|
Home Page
The home page is the most important page of the website. It offers the best opportunity to attract and maintain a visitor's attention. An interesting, uncluttered and rapidly-loading
page is essential to achieve this aim.
Imagine the home page to be either the cover page of a magazine or a shop window. It therefore merits the same special attention as would be given to either of these displays.
Essential principles which should be incorporated into a home
page are:
Clarity
As with a magazine front cover, within 10 seconds a visitor to the site must be made aware of what the company does and that it sets professional standards.
The page should be highly visual. As a general rule, the company logo and up to nine major products or product areas that the company provides would be included as photographs or graphical images. A larger number of images on the page are likely to cause a lack of clarity.
Ease of use
Navigation to other parts of the website must be clear and easy. Images on the page should link to the area which they identify. This is a highly effective method of directing the visitor immediately to the area which has aroused interest. Labelling the images will help to clarify what they represent.
Reliability
Larger enterprises whose products or services already possess high brand awareness among consumers are able to offer credibility and reliability based upon their reputation. Smaller businesses without this asset must rely entirely upon a well designed site which functions effectively to build up this trust. This is
essential so that the visitor is convinced that it will be both a safe and satisfactory experience
if a transaction is made.
The "look" of a website and its quality is the only way to communicate to the visitor that it is a serious commercial site.
The use of high quality graphics and an overall impression of clarity is essential to convey to the visitor the impression that the business insists on high professional standards. A company which promotes this image is much more likely to gain the trust of a potential customer and therefore eventually achieve a sale.
Speed
Finally, it is very important to establish a balance between a good-looking website - which will probably contain an abundance of graphic images - and the speed at which it can be downloaded and displayed. No purpose is served if the patience of the viewer is exhausted before the most attractive home page in the world is finally displayed on the screen - he or she will have long gone!
We have tried to embed these principles into a selection of sample home pages:
elevendidsburypark.com - establishing the contemporary nature of the hotel
hine.co.uk - identifying the types of insurance required by different industry sectors
lewisphipps.co.uk -
presenting the type of lettings provided by the company
sunsuits.co.uk -
indicating that sunsuits relates to sun protective clothing
westholmedev.co.uk -
showing the type of work undertaken by the building firm
|
