… your website’s home page, that is.
Take a look at your website home page (if you have one). I don’t mean your blog; while a blog may be part of your overall website, I’m talking about the first thing someone sees when they click on your website URL. Hopefully it’s not a blog. Read on and you’ll discover why.
Does your home page look warm and inviting? Does it represent the atmosphere one would feel in your brick & mortar establishment?
Can you easily find on the home page — and clearly read — the following:
- business name and logo,
- location,
- phone number,
- hours,
- newsletter sign-up form, and
- email address?
You see, your website home page should be a static page, consistently displaying the same information you’d place in a newspaper or yellow pages advertisement. If someone is trying to find you, they don’t want to have to wander around your site, clicking links here and there, to try to find the information they need. They’ll give up, and move on to the next site.
Once you’ve gotten the prerequisites down, the next step is to incorporate a picture. One. If you’ve got a great designer, maybe two or three artfully placed, but the goal is not to distract the viewer from the main content. It should capture the essence of your establishment. If possible, put yourself in the picture. Let your personality shine through. It’s all about building relationships.
You might also want to have an area on the home page where you feature a current event of some sort. If you’re using a CMS like WordPress, it’s easy to incorporate a ‘widget’ that can pull in dynamic content. Just make sure it only takes up a small portion of your home page and doesn’t distract from the core information.
Make sure your home page isn’t cluttered, with lots of different elements fighting for the viewer’s attention. Keep it to two or three typefaces at the most; you don’t want your site looking like a ransom note. Same goes for colors. They can bright and bold, subtle and subdued, or anything in between. Just don’t use too many. Pick a palette and stick with it. If you must put music on your site, make sure that it doesn’t start playing automatically.
Now, check your home page. What do you see? Be honest with yourself. Do you pass with flying colors? Congratulations! You’re further along than 70% of the small business websites I’ve visited recently. If you’re not happy with what you’re seeing (or don’t have a website at all) there’s a number of options available to you.
If you’re not happy with your current site but don’t know exactly what needs to be fixed or how to fix it: feel free to drop us a line. We’ll have a peek and give you an idea or two.
If you’re comfortable making changes to your website: Get busy! Make a list of the changes you want to make and schedule a block of time to get them completed. You might need a couple of blocks, depending on the number of changes and the amount of time you have available. Focus on the most important tasks first.
If you have a webmaster: Send them the list of changes.
If you don’t have a website: Get one! BlogArtisans offers an eCourse that will walk you through the entire process, as well as SetUp and Hosting Services.
Now sit back, relax, and enjoy your new home!
