The article discusses home page design ideas for increasing usability and making website interaction simple and speedy.
Home is typically connected with a location where you feel comfortable, convenient, and safe. That is why, maybe, the phrase "Home is where your heart is" has gained popularity. For many of us, the internet has become an essential part of our daily lives, both professionally and personally, therefore it's no surprise that the term "home" to describe a website's main page remains far more widespread and frequently used than all other alternatives.
When it comes to web design, the home page is the spot where users may engage with a website of any complexity in a convenient and beneficial manner. Any designer aims to create a space where people can easily and quickly locate everything they need. So, this object of the design work is strategically crucial because most customers dealing with a final web product will interface with a home page, even if it is not the starting point for their journey around the website.
We previously provided our readers with a general explanation of the home page and its common elements in the issue of UI/UX glossary dedicated to web design difficulties. This time, let's go beyond the basics and discuss some essential ideas and tactics for developing the home page.
What is the homepage?
The primary page of a website is commonly referred to as the home page. It is termed home because it usually serves as a beginning place with many further directions for the user, including direct links to the most significant areas of engagement with a website. In other terms, it can also be called the first page or the index page. If people are referred to the site by search engines, the home page is usually the first page they visit, indicating that it is the page that the majority of website users visit.
In addition to important links to various website sections, the home page frequently includes a search bar, rudimentary onboarding capabilities for personalised sites, and various regions of navigation that display users various types of data. It may also include entertaining welcome messages and copy blocks with slogans and taglines, as well as explanations of the benefits of the website or the products it shows.
A homepage has a considerably higher impact on a company's bottom line than simple indicators of e-commerce revenues. Your company's webpage serves as its public face. Potential clients are increasingly looking at your company's internet presence before doing business with you, regardless of whether they intend to complete the transaction online. A long time has passed, yet a clear and user-friendly front page remains a critical component of an efficient website.
The home page serves as the foundation for effective navigation, which is typically at the heart of a satisfying user experience. A cluttered interface and poorly designed layout can lead to user confusion and frustration.
What does a typical home page include?
The aspects of contact with a website main page should ideally convey the following information:
- the nature/theme of the website: consumers must quickly grasp whether they are dealing with a company website, a professional blog, an e-commerce website, a social network, a personal blog, an educational platform, and so on.
- branding components or other aspects supporting the web product identity: the home page, for example, should be clearly recognisable, memorable, and identifiable by users, among many other things. These objectives can be served by well-executed branding, which should include a logo and a corporate colour palette. It plays a significant function for commercial and corporate websites, which should include a strong link with a certain brand or corporation; however, for non-profit or personal websites, components of identity have a great impact on enhancing usability and memorability;
- Goals and functionality of the website: It is critical to inform people about the website's purpose and the demands it may meet. When consumers are supplied with this type of material during their initial engagement with a website, they are willing to spend their most valuable resource - time - to learn more;
- capacity to search around the website content: the search box or button should be immediately visible and recognisable, as well as situated in an area of high visual intensity according to eye-tracking trends;
- navigation elements providing the ability to move to different sections and pages starting from the home page: the home page becomes the starting point of the route from which the user should be able to move to any essential and meaningful part of the website as well as return home at any time and from any point of a journey;
- contact information and preferably data about creators or people in control: the home page is the location where consumers expect to be presented with the basic information about who makes, maintains, and curates the website, as well as how to contact people in charge if such a need arises;
- Links to social networks: Supporting social networks is not only an excellent instrument for social marketing, but also a terrific way to engage with users. Because social networks are now used by thousands of users on a regular basis, there will always be those who are interested in seeing how the website is positioned in an environment that is familiar and clear to them, as well as contacting via standard social network tools rather than looking for a means of communication on the website. Considering and applying this trend can be one more step towards a pleasant user experience.
- testimonies or information that builds trust in the website: citing prominent clients or partners, as well as indicators of social popularity, can entice visitors to study more and investigate the website's content.
Defined target audience and rigorous user research, conducted early in the interaction and visual design process, allow designers to prioritise layout aspects based on the needs, expectations, and psychological perceptions of the target audience. Preferably, the most important components should be positioned in the home page's pre-scroll section to ensure quick perception.
Because the main page is the website's front entrance, it should undoubtedly include all of the strategically important information that a user should be able to digest in a matter of seconds. It's vital to remember that most visitors don't spend much time studying a new website; in most circumstances, you only have a few minutes to capture their attention and tell them about the website while they scan the page. If this limited time is used correctly to communicate with the spectators about the theme and the benefits they may obtain, they will be eager to learn more and browse the site.
For this reason, web designers should learn more about the psychological and physiological aspects of user interaction with web products, particularly colour psychology and studies on eye scanning trends, such as those conducted by Luke Wroblewski and Nielsen Norman Group. They are extremely useful for designers looking to construct usable home pages, which have a direct impact on overall website conversion and bounce rates. Knowing how consumers scan web sites allows the designer to place the most relevant content in high-visibility areas, making the page more useful and capturing the attention of target users or readers.
Should all traffic be sent to the homepage?
The answer is very dependent on the nature and intricacy of the website. The most important factor to consider is the user's attention and concentration on specific portions of the website in order to solve a specific problem or meet specific needs.
This question does not apply to simple one-page websites: they only have a home page that serves one or more purposes, and there is no other area where visitors from outside sources can be sent. The same is true if the website is not complex, and the home page is not overburdened with several connections and navigation features, allowing conversion to occur directly from the home page while other pages play secondary roles. In this scenario, guiding all visitors to the most informative section of the site, while also allowing a user to take the necessary action and obtain what they require, is a fantastic idea.
However, for complicated websites and platforms, particularly those that serve the diverse needs of a large target audience, this method can be the first step towards destroying profitability and lowering conversion rates. The user may become intimidated, distracted, or even annoyed by the amount of information they must wade through in order to discover what they need, especially if their requirements or wishes are narrowly focused. Landing pages can be an effective technique to focus the user's attention on something vital while making it visible and easily accessible.
A landing page is a tool that emphasises one topic, makes it easy to find, and reduces delays when the target user searches for specific procedures, services, or items. This is especially important in the case of e-commerce websites, where bad design solutions result in a negative customer experience and financial losses. If you want to learn more about how to use landing pages effectively, we recommend reading our prior article. In any case, the method should be founded on extensive user study and testing.
What are the key elements of an effective home page?
Among the countless features required for such an important zone of high functionality as the home page, we would describe the following as the ones that are unquestionably worth attention:
- clean, straightforward navigation and balanced visual hierarchy.
- Application of several menu kinds enables avoiding overloaded website design.
- The usability of the used layout elements
- legible copy, easily scanned
- length of copy blocks that correspond to the target consumers' demands and expectations.
- Use language (vocabulary, grammar, modality, keywords, etc.) that is understandable and engaging to the intended audience.
- The intensity of graphic visual material.
- The webpage's short loading time
- thoughtful and efficient search
- Effective use of keywords
- A excellent mix between tradition and innovation.
- The home page is accessible from any location on the website.
- The home page is easily and clearly distinguishable from the rest of the website's pages.
- consistency of visual design solutions.
- Calls to action that are both obvious and instructive
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