A website’s homepage is the first impression, and a great homepage design should make it one to remember. More and more often these days, a visitor’s first interaction with a brand is through their website, and according to survey data, 75% of users judge a website’s credibility on its design.
The homepage has a lot to accomplish and a short amount of time to do it (about 0.05 seconds before the viewer forms an impression, to be exact). From summarizing the business or service to generating leads and providing seamless navigation, the homepage must also set the tone for the rest of the site to follow. All of this can make the homepage design an exciting yet challenging opportunity.
What makes a good homepage design?
For a homepage design to be considered good, it has to be more than just pretty (though that is certainly a factor). A homepage design must be effective, which means it must accomplish business goals. So let’s start by asking, what is the intended purpose of a homepage.
First of all, a homepage is an introduction. It is often the first encounter a viewer will have with a business and a brand. This means that copy must effectively communicate what the business is all about and the design must give a visual and emotional impression of the brand, using design elements such as a color scheme, font choice, and imagery. If the color scheme and font choice are not right, the homepage design will fail in its purpose to get people interested. Then there is the imagery. Images must do more than just look pretty; they should tell a story, make an impact, or achieve some other goal. This is especially true for companies that sell products or services that are not visual in nature (such as a financial institution). The homepage design has to achieve its goal with imagery, and can’t be more attractive than it really is.
It’s also important to have two different typefaces—one for text and one for links—on a homepage so that viewers don’t mistake one type of element for another. Each typeface should be distinctive, so make sure that the font you choose for text is noticeably different from the one you use for links.
A homepage design is a teaser, but it’s also an organizing tool. The visitor has to be able to find everything they need on your homepage and then navigate easily to all of those places from other pages on your site. So when creating a homepage design, identify the main areas of interest and provide targeted access to each area with relevant links via navigation elements or buttons. If the homepage becomes too crowded with elements or is hard to navigate, visitors will leave—and you’ll lose opportunities for sales or leads.
Finally, a homepage design is a channel for communication. In order to achieve its purpose, the homepage must be efficient and effective in communicating the brand’s message.
A website’s homepage is the first impression, and a great homepage design should make it one to remember. More and more often these days, a visitor’s first interaction with a brand is through their website, and according to survey data, 75% of users judge a website’s credibility on its design. The homepage has a lot to accomplish and a short amount of time to do it (about 0.05 seconds before the viewer forms an impression, to be exact). From summarizing the business or service to generating leads and providing seamless navigation, the homepage design must also set the tone for the rest of the site to follow. All of this can make the homepage design an exciting yet challenging opportunity. What makes a good homepage design? For a homepage design to be considered good, it has to be more than just pretty (though that is certainly a factor). A homepage design must be effective, which means it must accomplish business goals. So let’s start by asking, what is the intended purpose of a homepage. First of all, a homepage is an introduction. It is often the first encounter a viewer will have with a business and a brand.
Interested in reading more about website design? Web Design Trends Unique for 2021 discusses current website design trends.
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