Dazzle Your Visitors With a Dynamic Home Page
Dazzle Your Visitors with a Dynamic Home Page
Kristie Tamsevicius
From the moment a visitor arrives, your front page conveys a feeling to your visitor. From the look of your site, the wording, and the colors you use, your home page projects a message to your potential customer about who you are. First impressions are lasting. It's very important for your site to project an image of professionalism and invite the visitor to want to know more by gaining the reader's attention, capturing their interest, creating desire, and calling them to action.
Here are the key elements to creating a dynamic front page:
• Professional graphics
• Company logo
• Motto
• Draw visitors in with leading questions
• Show how your product meets those needs
• Build trust with testimonials
• Tease visitors with goodies
• Add a money back guarantee
• Call the visitor to action. This means tell them what to do if they are interested. Typical calls to action are telling them to click here to order, call here for more information, click here to contact us.
Professional graphics
Retail stores go to great lengths to create an inviting experience for their shoppers. Store owners carefully plan every detail of the store interior from the background music, to the product displays, and the lighting to set the proper mood for customers. Similarly web business owners should work to create an inviting shopping experience for their web visitors. Web businesses can do this by ensuring that their web site is pleasing to look at, has friendly and interesting web content, and is easy to navigate.
Web site graphics play a big role in projecting a professional image to your visitor. A professional looking web site will convey a message of trust to your web customers. I don’t know about you, but, I get nervous ordering a product from a website that looks unprofessional. It puts worries in my head as to if they are a reputable business, if I will actually get the product, and if my credit card information will be secure. If your graphics are of shoddy do-it-yourself variety, customers may be leery to do business with you.
If you already have a web site, you may want to consider updating your web site graphics and web content. For a minimal cost, professional graphics can literally transform an ordinary site into something truly exciting.
Try to match the color scheme and graphics of your site to your business culture. Are you casual and friendly? Are you high tech? Are you corporate? Pick a logo and color scheme that reflects this to your customer.
Other graphics tips:
Quick loading: As a rule, your home page should be under 80KB in size, and take no longer than 20 seconds to download with a 56k modem.
Cross browser compatibility: Test your site with several different browsers and at various screen resolutions.
Graphics should complement, not DISTRACT: Your graphics should not distract from the site's content. If you are using a color or tile background or excessive animation it can be difficult for visitors to read your text.
Company logo: Your logo is a distinguishing mark for your company. A strong logo will create a lasting image that clearly identifies you, differentiates you from the competition, and conveys a sense of professionalism and reliability. Place your logo predominantly at the top of the home page so visitors will know immediately that they have arrived at your company web site.
Motto: Think of a motto or slogan as a headline for your web site. This tells visitors WHO you are, HOW your product will benefit them, and WHY you are the best.
Example: Providing the highest quality coffees for private label.
Draw visitors in with leading questions: Sales copy needs to GRAB your visitor's attention, create an INTEREST, and call them to ACT. So how do you grab their attention? Create questions related to benefits your customers might realize from your product. Think about WHY someone would want to buy your product and HOW it helps him or her. This will hook them.
Here are examples of leading questions:
• Are you planning a business event?
• Looking for a speaker for your next conference?
• Are you holding a workshop in the near future?
Show how your product meets those needs
Follow-up the leading questions by telling visitors how your business will GIVE them those benefits. You've caught their interest; this will reel them in. See the following example:
If you answered "YES!" to any of these questions call us at (847) 244-8450 to learn how to book Kristie Tamsevicius to speak at your next workshop or business event. Kristie Tamsevicius is a professional speaker whose messages will move her audiences to greater action in work and life.
Build trust with testimonials
Now tell visitors WHY they should buy. Sprinkle your sales copy with testimonials to break up your sales copy and add interest. There's nothing more powerful than the words of a satisfied customer to build trust in you and your products.
Here's an example of a small testimonial used as a teaser to the full testimonial page:
Even the big Home Based Experts are saying FABULOUS things about the eBiz Toolkit!
"It's all of your business information, needs, goals and references in one efficient place that includes many hot links to top websites and reference sites to make your life easier! This is a great tool for any home business owner."
Lesley Spencer, Founder & Director www.HomeBasedWorkingMoms.com
Then link Lesley’s quote to your testimonial or product order page.
Tease visitors with goodies
Think of your home page as the cover of a book. You've got to make it exciting enough to make visitors want to open the book and read. Explain a little about your company, your newsletter, and any articles, resources, tips, or free reports your site has to offer. This will draw visitors DEEPER within your site.
Follow with your guarantee
Reduce the risk of purchase for your customers by offering a product guarantee. This will do two things: it will show the customer that you believe in your product, and it will build trust making them more likely to purchase.
Here's an example of a guarantee:
Unconditional No-Questions-Asked Guarantee
You have my personal guarantee, that the Widget will do X, Y, and Z for you, that we back your purchase with a no-hassle, 100% money-back guarantee.
Call visitors to action
It's time to close the deal and ASK for the order! What is the next step you want the visitor to take? Should they call for information? Do they click here to order?
Place the link to your secure order page in a VERY VISIBLE place. Remind them that it's a SECURE order page. Time-sensitive offers (and if you order by midnight tonight, you'll receive a special bonus) can entice visitors to act now.
Offer visitors your contact information. Include your phone number, fax, address, and spell out your email address (make your email link clickable). It is crucial to put your contact information on the home page so people don't have to hunt for it.
Motivate visitors to take that next step by offering a free consultation, a discount, or piling on the bonuses. If you don't have a bonus, create a joint venture! Find a company whose services complement yours and agree to cross-promote each other. Then make a bonus swap! Not only will you gain giveaways such as ebooks and free reports, but you'll also get lots of exposure.
Other web design tips:
• Check your spelling and grammar. Let someone else proof your site too! They'll catch things you've missed.
• Keep navigation simple. In addition to your top or side buttons, add a set of text links to the bottom of the page.
• Frequently test your links. www.netmechanic.com and http://websitegarage.netscape.com offer this service for FREE!
• Make your page easy to scan. Visitors will quickly glance down the page looking at headers. Break your text up with headers, so visitors quickly grasp the main points. Similarly, using bullet points will lead the visitor's eye down the page.
Finally, remember to periodically reevaluate your front page to see if it still measures up. After all, you've just got one shot to grab your visitor’s attention or else CLICK… they're gone.
Article by: Kristie Tamsevicius, is the author of "I Love My Life: A Mom's Guide to Working from Home"! Thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs have used her step-by-step home business system to earn money working from home. Get a free ecourse Home Business Success Secrets at www.Webmomz.com
