Top 5 Tips to a Successful Homepage Makeover

Is your company website turning people away?

Does your website have high traffic but a very low conversion rate?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of these questions, it may be time that you consider a ‘homepage makeover’ or at the very least, an evaluation of your business website.

Let’s face it, business marketing nowadays has taken on a whole new dimension, and it takes more than just a pretty ‘web face’ to attract leads and fill the sales funnel.

Your company website is the most important marketing tool that you have and it should be working hard for you; attracting visitors, generating leads, increasing sales and building a loyal audience from those leads. And since your homepage serves as the starting point, it makes sense that you focus more of your attention on the details behind making this important page ‘sing’.
 
Top 5 tips to a successful Homepage Makeover include:
 
#1: Start with an Inbound marketing strategy
You shouldn’t try to redesign your homepage or a website without a clear vision of your business objectives and an inbound marketing strategy in hand. You wouldn’t think about building a house without a blueprint would you? It’s the very foundation that the house is built on. You know what they say: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Start right here with your strategic online plan of action.   

#2: Provide your Value Proposition
You have about 10 seconds. That’s right, the first 10 seconds of the page visit are critical for a users' decision to stay or leave. However, pages with a clear value proposition can hold people's attention for much longer’. Your value proposition clearly communicates the benefits that your potential client gets by using your product, or service. Decide on what differentiates your brand from your competitors and turn your elevator pitch into words.

#3: Provide an offer that they can’t refuse
Smart inbound marketers know that once you've done all that hard work to get visitors to your website, the next big step is to convert them into leads. And, the best way to get them to convert is through a landing page. Landing pages make visitor-to-lead conversions possible from a compelling CTA (call-to-action). A strong call-to-action provides a convincing offer that asks people to give their contact information (so they become a lead for your business) in exchange for something.  

#4: Create a solid navigation system
One of the biggest factors to keep visitors on your website is having a good, solid navigation system that supports all search preferences. According to a recent HubSpot study, ease of finding information is the most important element in designing a website. Remember the 10-second rule in #2. You only have a few seconds, so make sure that you make it easy for your visitors to get what they want quickly.

#5: Make a great ‘first impression’
Does your website reflect your brand? Does it exude credibility? Is it trustworthy? Does it provide the visitor with what they may be looking for? Does it look professional? These are just a few of the questions that you’ll need to ask yourself when you undergo a website redesign.  Structure, branding, imagery, type, color and more, are all crucial branding elements to be considered.

What other components do you think make for exceptional website design and usability? Use the comments section below.

About Murray Sye – Hi there. I’m an inbound marketing evangelist, a blogger, and a social media enthusiast. I specialize in helping businesses grow and thrive by leveraging the power of the internet.