Think of your website’s homepage as your business’ virtual storefront. You want it to stand out, look great, and be helpful to your customers. In this article, we’re going to outline how you can ensure you have a great homepage that can help you build trust, give a great first impression of your company, and earn you more sales.
Let’s get started.
Optimizing Your Website’s Homepage
Choose your target keywords carefully (and be wary of cannibalization)
Targeting the right keywords on your homepage is vital to boosting your search engine optimization (SEO), drawing in the right web traffic, and ultimately securing more sales. You want to be sure that your homepage is targeting the keywords that your audience is searching for!
To conduct keyword research, start by coming up with a list of words or phrases relevant to your business. You can then plug them into a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner.
Google will then provide you with a list of topics that people are searching for, along with their average monthly search volumes. Weaving some of these keywords into your homepage copy can help you to increase your visibility on relevant search engine results pages.
Just keep in mind that you want to avoid keyword cannibalization. If you have multiple web pages that are targeting the same keywords, Google will struggle to work out which is the most suitable for certain queries. This will then lower your chances of ranking at all. This is a common SEO mistake, but one you’ll definitely want to avoid.
Put your accolades or qualifications front and center
People will only want to spend money with you if you’re able to earn their trust — one great way to do this is by showing off how qualified you are.
Highlighting your accolades and credentials on your homepage is a great way to show that you know what you’re doing and generate more leads. So, make sure to mention any relevant qualifications, industry awards, or media mentions you’ve received.
For inspiration, let’s look at some examples of companies that show off their qualifications well.
Speks, a retailer of magnet sphere fidget toys, shows off their media mentions right on their homepage. This is particularly important for a toy company like Speks, as potential buyers can’t see their products in person, so they’ll want to be reassured that the toys are fun and satisfying to play with.
By highlighting their media mentions, Speks shows that they have a popular product that well-known companies love — website visitors should want to get in on the fun, too!
On the other hand, Purple, an online mattress retailer, shows off an award they received with Mattress Online by J.D. Power.
They note that they achieved the highest scores in support, comfort, warranty, value, and customer care. Impressive, no? Because Purple sells many of their mattresses online, this is particularly important for them. Customers will want to know that the retailer is trustworthy and provides a quality product. This award just goes to show that, and displaying it in this way will help to move people through the company’s sales funnel.
Make it very easy for people to take the next step
When people land on your homepage, you want it to be as easy as possible for them to take the next step. Sometimes, people just want an extra push — this will increase your chances of making another sale.
You can make it simple for people to find more information or move forward in the buying journey by offering a clear CTA, providing a sophisticated search feature, or making it easy for them to get in touch with you if they have a question or concern.
Let’s look at a few examples of websites that do this well.
Allan Berger and Associates, a law firm based out of New Orleans, makes it very easy for prospective clients to take the next step by encouraging them to get in touch or arrange an appointment.
Having multiple 24-hour contact options like this is particularly helpful for a law firm — legal issues can come up at any time of the day and, by keeping their lines of communication open and making it clear to website visitors how to get in touch, they are sure to generate more leads.
They also make it incredibly easy for anyone who does decide to book an appointment — if someone clicks the button, they’re taken to a simple contact form that asks for basic details and a short message about their potential case. The ease of moving from their homepage to securing an appointment is what sets them up for success.
Best Value Schools also makes it incredibly easy for website visitors to take the next step using their Degree Finder search tool.
The website focuses on helping prospective students to choose their next step in education, and they allow website visitors to enter information about their desired course to find the option that will be best for them. Again, they don’t ask for too much information — a user simply has to use three drop-down menus to provide their information. This makes it very simple for anyone who lands on their homepage, and is sure to move people towards finding their ideal school.
Consider whether this is an approach you could take on your website to help get the results you’re looking for.
Choose imagery that shows what your business is all about
Strong visuals are important for grabbing people’s attention and showing them what your business is all about. You can use imagery to put a face to your business, show people what it’s like to work for you, or show off your brand’s personality.
Keep in mind that different visuals will work best for different businesses. If you run a toy company, for example, bright colors and cheerful imagery will be appropriate, but this strategy won’t be effective for, say, a law firm.
Let’s look at a few examples of businesses that use imagery well and discuss what we can learn from them.
Talkspace, an online therapy platform, uses imagery very well on their homepage. They have an image featuring a woman speaking on her phone to her therapist.
This simple image conveys a lot about Talkspace: it’s easy, you can take your therapy anywhere, and it will help you feel better. This type of reassuring imagery is especially important for a platform like Talkspace; many people are afraid to start therapy but, from the homepage, the viewer can see that it’s not so intimidating, after all.
Crayola, the arts and crafts brand, uses imagery in a different — yet still very effective — way. Their first banner image is of a child using crayola products to color on the grass on a summer day.
This will get website visitors’ imaginations going as they think about what they could create with different Crayola products. Before they have even bought the product, this image gets them to start getting excited about their own creativity, making it fun and effective.
Shine a light on positive reviews from your customers
People value word-of-mouth recommendations over just about any other type of marketing. In fact, 72% of customers won’t take any buying actions at all until they have read reviews. So, showcasing your reviews right on your homepage can help you secure sales and build trust faster.
If you run a service-based business, it could be helpful to simply ask your former clients if they would be willing to leave a review for your business. You could, for instance, film a video review and put the testimonial on your website for your website viewers to engage with. If you run a product-based business, be sure to have a spot where your customers can leave reviews on your website. Posting your most popular products with their attached star rating can encourage people to make a purchase.
Casper, an online bedding retailer, uses reviews and star ratings right on their homepage to highlight some of their best products. Sleep takes up a lot of a person’s life, and highlighting positive reviews from customers ensures that Casper builds trust with people who are in the market for a new mattress.
If you sell products on your website, consider how you can highlight your most popular selections with a star rating.
Alternatively, Backlinko, a link building and SEO expert, highlights written testimonials from users and subscribers on their homepage when encouraging people to sign up for their newsletter.
They have multiple reviews from leaders in the SEO industry to show that they know what they’re doing — if it works for them, it should work for you, too! Highlighting reviews from high-profile clients is a very effective strategy if you have a service-based business. So, if you’ve helped well-known people or businesses to reach their goals, make sure you ask for testimonials and display then proudly on your homepage.
Summary
Your homepage is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal. In this article, we outlined how you can use it to your advantage! Showing off your accolades and positive reviews, engaging your viewers with imagery, choosing the best keywords, and showing visitors how they can take the next steps are all great places to start.
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