Infodesign Copywriting™ Article - Website Usability: Home Page


	Website Usability – Is Your Home Page Inviting Enough? Websites have got to be the best shop-front a business can have. But losing potential customers has never been easier. Why? Let’s compare shoppers who physically come into a store from the street. A majority are ‘window shoppers’. These visitors tend to linger because they’ve gone to some effort to get to your store. They are curious or hope to find what they want You can see them. You can size them up to see if you want to start a conversation to find out what they’re looking for. Like a swinging voter you have a last-minute opportunity to convert that person into a customer. Now consider your website visitor. He or she is no window shopper. He’s arrived at your site with a very specific intent (from a search usually) and is far less patient. With one click, he’s gone - and you never knew he was there. Since the Home Page is your ‘shop window’, I’ve put together a checklist on the less obvious factors that are often overlooked about Home Page design. So ask this about your virtual shop-front….. 1. Does my Home Page have a summary of what my website’s about and what it offers? Use your keywords and keyword research as a clue to really get it well targeted, and don’t forget to point out what makes you different from your competitors (your USP). 2. Have I broken up long tracts of text? Reading on screen is harder on the eyes and it’s 25% slower, so website visitors are predisposed to scan or skim text. If you make paragraphs no longer than five lines, your visitors will read more of your content. 3. Are my links color-coded? Websites can be like ant farms with so many detours. It’s too easy to lose your bearings. HTML lets you apply different link colors to reflect: unopened links (stick to blue as it’s become familiar); opened links; active links (those that are still open). 4. Have I put a limit on over-bearing advertising? It’s good to get passive income from advertisers but don’t be tempted to go overboard. I’ve seen many sites where these ads dwarf the site’s content. A type of ad to be careful with is one that opens before your home page does. The visitor gets disoriented for a moment and wonders if they’ve gone to the wrong place. Then in small print, far too small to be noticed quickly, and tucked in a corner of the ad space, is the exit hyperlink which lets the visitor “skip this window” or “skip advertisement” to get to the home page. To the visitor it feels like a hijack. 5. Do I have too many ‘new browser window’ opens? If all your hyperlinked content opens in a new window just remember that too many open windows irritate the visitor. They clutter the desktop so the visitor quickly clicks each window closed until they accidentally close your home page. And you’ve lost them. So use this feature only with: links to pages on other websites or links that open file attachments. 6. Have I made recently featured content on the Home Page still accessible? Everything has a shelf life. So if you archive content that was on the home page leave a footprint for returning visitors. Offer a link to that content under a heading like “Recently Featured”. 7. Does my home page look like a patchwork quilt? These home pages are so busy you’d swear the business is taking a drift-net approach to their marketing. Get to know your audience and your customers. That way you’ll be able to structure your content in a way that funnels your visitors better. If you don’t, they’ll think it’s hard work and will go looking for a site that escorts them better. So try to find out what most of your visitors want or are looking to do when they come to your site. Don’t be a one-size-fits-all website. When you have a Home Page that intuits your visitors’ needs, they will return again and again, bookmark your site in Favourites, or better still, in social media blasts. Matilda Reich Online Marketing Consultant & Copywriter Infodesign Copywriting
	© 2010 Matilda Reich – Infodesign Copywriting™

Website Usability – Is Your Home Page Inviting Enough?

Websites have got to be the best shop-front a business can have. But losing potential customers has never been easier. Why?

Let’s compare shoppers who physically come into a store from the street. A majority are ‘window shoppers’. These visitors tend to linger because they’ve gone to some effort to get to your store. They are curious or hope to find what they want

You can see them. You can size them up to see if you want to start a conversation to find out what they’re looking for. Like a swinging voter you have a last-minute opportunity to convert that person into a customer.

Now consider your website visitor. He or she is no window shopper. He’s arrived at your site with a very specific intent (from a search usually) and is far less patient. With one click, he’s gone - and you never knew he was there.

Since the Home Page is your ‘shop window’, I’ve put together a checklist on the less obvious factors that are often overlooked about Home Page design. So ask this about your virtual shop-front…..

1.    Does my Home Page have a summary of what my website’s about and what it offers?
Use your keywords and keyword research as a clue to really get it well targeted, and don’t forget to point out what makes you different from your competitors (your USP).

2.    Have I broken up long tracts of text?
Reading on screen is harder on the eyes and it’s 25% slower, so website visitors are predisposed to scan or skim text. If you make paragraphs no longer than five lines, your visitors will read more of your content.

3.    Are my links color-coded?
Websites can be like ant farms with so many detours. It’s too easy to lose your bearings. HTML lets you apply different link colors to reflect: unopened links (stick to blue as it’s become familiar); opened links; active links (those that are still open).

4.    Have I put a limit on over-bearing advertising?
It’s good to get passive income from advertisers but don’t be tempted to go overboard. I’ve seen many sites where these ads dwarf the site’s content.
A type of ad to be careful with is one that opens before your home page does. The visitor gets disoriented for a moment and wonders if they’ve gone to the wrong place. Then in small print, far too small to be noticed quickly, and tucked in a corner of the ad space, is the exit hyperlink which lets the visitor “skip this window” or “skip advertisement” to get to the home page. To the visitor it feels like a hijack.

5.    Do I have too many ‘new browser window’ opens?
If all your hyperlinked content opens in a new window just remember that too many open windows irritate the visitor. They clutter the desktop so the visitor quickly clicks each window closed until they accidentally close your home page. And you’ve lost them. So use this feature only with: links to pages on other websites or links that open file attachments.

6.    Have I made recently featured content on the Home Page still accessible?
Everything has a shelf life. So if you archive content that was on the home page leave a footprint for returning visitors. Offer a link to that content under a heading like “Recently Featured”.

7.    Does my home page look like a patchwork quilt?
These home pages are so busy you’d swear the business is taking a drift-net approach to their marketing. Get to know your audience and your customers. That way you’ll be able to structure your content in a way that funnels your visitors better. If you don’t, they’ll think it’s hard work and will go looking for a site that escorts them better.

So try to find out what most of your visitors want or are looking to do when they come to your site. Don’t be a one-size-fits-all website. When you have a Home Page that intuits your visitors’ needs, they will return again and again, bookmark your site in Favourites, or better still, in social media blasts.

   Matilda Reich
   Online Marketing Consultant & Copywriter
   Infodesign Copywriting