Website (noun): a set of related web pages located under a single domain name, typically produced by a single person or organization.
Also: a company’s largest sales and marketing tool.
Despite being one of the biggest investments a company will make in their marketing, many companies struggle to develop their website — the most challenging part of the process being procuring and agreeing upon what content should be included.
Your homepage sets the stage for the rest of your website. Because it’s so critical, we often see clients (and designers alike) struggle to understand or decide what should go on their homepage, wasting countless hours and marketing dollars spinning their wheels for inspiration.
By using these simple tips and starting points, you can give your website a running start.
Start with Standard Elements
All websites will have a logo, menu navigation, and footer. Most homepages will have an impactful hero section with a photo or video, headline, and call to action. Right there is about 1/4 of your homepage!!
If you’re stuck on what to include, consider these common areas of content or best practices to get the ball rolling:
- Testimonials - Testimonials establish trust and credibility.
- Trustmarks - Badges, certifications, or affiliations will establish trust and authority
- Blog feed - Blogs are an inbound marketing best practice. Include a blog feed as a module not only to build content for the homepage but to inspire a library of content that will establish authority and trust with your users over time.
- Sign-up forms - Do you keep an e-newsletter subscription list? Include a sign-up form with a brief overview of your newsletter.
- Contact - Be sure to give users a way to contact you–either with a form or a call to action section.
- Downloadables - Do you have a one-sheeter or other takeaway that you use in your marketing? If so, call this out visually and invite users to download it as a means to build a list of leads to nurture if they’re not ready to convert.
Use your Sitemap
Think of your homepage as the table of contents of your website. Start with a sitemap or a rough outline of what pages you want to include on your website. Once you have this, you should be able to see what kinds of content you can tease here that will link off into a more in-depth explanation on an interior website page.
Once you use this approach, piecing together sections with snippets of content on your homepage should be a breeze as long as you’ve worked with your sitemap in mind. Most users scan the page in seconds, so keeping things high-level and attention-grabbing is a best practice to help users navigate to the content they’re looking for.
Research Your Competition
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” - Picasso
While Picasso’s quote shouldn’t be taken 100% at face value, the artist knew that the best way to stay relevant and competitive was to take what was hot in the industry and build upon it to make it better or unique (hello, Cubism!).
Researching your competitors will not only give you an edge in your broader marketing strategies but help you to outline content for your homepage if you’re not sure where to begin. (The competition has already found what information is important for their users to see first!) This strategy also will help you decide what NOT to do as well, so you can determine how to set yourself apart from others.
Use Your Brand Messaging as a Framework
Do you have a brand guide? If so, check there for messaging guidelines and frameworks! Half the work may already be done for you. Taglines make great hero copy, and you can utilize messaging copy to fill in areas of the homepage higher up to convey the ultimate message as to what it is you offer, who it's for, and why they need it. If anything, if you have high level ideas of the messaging, you can use this to guide proposed module areas that can later be filled in by a copywriter in more detail (just use lorem ipsum!).
Remember, you only need this to get you 1/3-1/2 way there! You can always fill in the bottom of the homepage with common modules such as blog feeds, newsletter sign-ups, contact forms, etc. to round out the feeling of completeness for your homepage!
Get Inspired!
If you’re still unsure where to start when it comes to building your homepage, there are a few other resources you can use to get the juices flowing.
ThemeForest by Envato
Head over to ThemeForest and peruse their libraries of pre-made website templates. You can search down to industry-specific templates, or keep it high-level. Some templates are static designs, while others are fully functional website mockups you can review for functionality.
Awwwards
The Awwwards showcases the best trends in website design. If you’re looking to be cutting-edge and break the mold, you may get some great inspiration here.
Dribble, Behance, Pinterest
Check out these portfolio / creative inspiration sites to see what a community of designers is up to in staying ahead of the curve. The best talent is undiscovered!
When in doubt, just good ol’ fashioned Google the key terms or problems you’re trying to solve.
Try Growth-Driven Design
It’s no joke that a website is a huge marketing endeavor and an important marketing tool. The thought of this, along with the pressure to get it just right, can leave companies and designers crippled with paralysis by analysis when it comes to ideating a homepage. It doesn’t have to be complicated, and you don't have to go it alone.
Growth-Driven Design (GDD) is a website methodology that emphasizes a quicker launch cycle by focusing on developing the most impactful parts of a website that will get users the information they need to take action. Using best practices and data to guide what content should go on your website to launch, GDD treats websites as living, fluid entities that are continually added to and improved upon over time. With GDD, you’ll create a “launchpad” that gets your website to market sooner and collects data on how your audience interacts with your website over time. In the digital era of marketing, nothing is truly set in stone, and testing and learning are valued more than a “get-it-right, one-and-done” mentality.
At Vendilli Digital Group, we pride ourselves on being one of the best damn web design agencies to work with in Pittsburgh. If you’re struggling to get your website up off the ground and don’t know where to start, give us a call today.
