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Tips for an effective Home Page

August 30, 2016 by pixelmepink Leave a Comment

Your home page is often the first impression someone has of your business. Visitors need to be able to quickly figure out (in just a few seconds) if they are in the right place and if your site has what they have been looking for.

Follow these tips for a more effective home page:

1. Identify your target market.

target-market

The quickest path to growth in your business is to figure out who you are targeting. As small business owners it can be tempting to say that we are targeting EVERYONE, but trying to get your product or service in front of EVERYONE is going to be very expensive.

Also, the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none” comes to mind. When a user comes to your site, you want them to feel like they are exactly where they need to be and that you are offering a service tailored to them. In order to achieve this, you need to figure out who you are specifically targeting, figure out exactly what they want and present that and only that to them. Niching your services will increase your reach in the long run because once you know who you’re selling to, you’ll better know how to organize your site specifically for them and where to find them.

 

2. Determine what your target market is looking for and give it to them. Avoid choice paralysis.

choice-paralysisStudies have shown that when a person is presented with too many options, they begin to feel overwhelmed and delay making any decision at all.

Some examples could be:

  • a navigation menu with 20+ items in it
  • a side bar stuffed with irrelevant options or too many flashy buttons/calls to action
  • a clothing store with too many categories, sub-categories and sub-categories of sub-categories

codaThink in 3’s as this is a number proven to make people feel most comfortable.
More than 3 and they start to get anxiety over the options, any less and they don’t feel as there are enough options.

With that in mind, create a nice balance between what you want the customer to do and what you know they are looking for. Make those 3 options stand out among the rest.

For example, for a web design company those focal points could be: View our Services, Check out our Portfolio and Get a quote.

A clothing store could be: Shop our Products, Take advantage of a sale or become a member in order to create a wishlist for easier shopping.

 

website-hierarchy3. Make scanning easy.

The best way to achieve this is through hierarchy. People don’t want to have to read every detail to figure you out.

Use headlines and imagery to guide the user. Keep any text on the home page short and sweet. Your home page isn’t the place to tell a long drawn out story for how you got started or why you’re better than the next guy.

Treat your home page like the first step. Create clear paths through the site to your conversion pages and tell users exactly what to do next with crystal clear calls to action.

 

In Conclusion

The goal of the homepage is to compel visitors to dig deeper into your website and move them further into your world.

The amount of pages viewed on your site combined with the amount of time someone stays on your site and low exit rates tells Google that your site is engaging. Google’s customer is the searcher. They like to keep their customers happy by presenting engaging and relevant websites at the top of their search results. This is good for you and for your target market.

 

Filed Under: Hints & Tips, Strategy

What to put in your website sidebar

October 1, 2014 by pixelmepink

We get it. WordPress is awesome.

wordpress-sidebar-clutterIt’s very user-friendly, super easy for you to drag, drop, edit and augment your website to your hearts desire. It’s true, editing your website sidebar is simple and fun.

What you put in your sidebar however, requires some thought and strategy. Just because you CAN put something in your sidebar, doesn’t mean you SHOULD.

A website’s sidebar should be viewed as an opportunity to add value to the page rather than as a distraction.

 

Some things to think about when planning your sidebar strategy:

widgets1. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
What works in the sidebar for one page might not necessarily work in another. We recommend assessing each page for its specific needs.

For example, in the blog page sidebar you might want to put blog categories, popular posts or recent comments to help facilitate interaction whereas on your Services page you’ll want to put a way to book an appointment, access F.A.Q.s or ask more questions regarding your services.

One item you do want to consider putting in most of your sidebars (aside from your “money” pages) is your main CTA (Call to Action).
Sample Side Bar Contents:

  • About page
    1. Main CTA
    2. Meet the team
    3. Link to view services
  • Services page
    1. Main CTA
    2. Book a service
    3. Contact us
    4. Service categories for easier browsing
    5. Link to F.A.Q’s regarding your services
  • Portfolio page
    1. Main CTA
    2. Book a service
    3. Testimonials
  • Blog page
    1. Main CTA
    2. Blog categories
    3. Subscribe to Blog
    4. Recent comments
    5. Popular posts
  • Money Pages
    These are the pages where you process your transactions. Where users will be entering payment credentials to book a service or buy a product.

Keep these sidebars clutter free!
Any opportunity to go away from this page is an opportunity to ditch the sale. A great option would be to leave the sidebar off of this page altogether.

 

2. YOUR SIDEBAR SHOULD BE FOCUSED
Before adding an element to your sidebar ask yourself:

  1. Does this add value to the page?
  2. Is it relevant to the pages content?
  3. Does it enhance user experience by helping them to find what they are looking for?
  4. Does it act as a distraction or will it help me achieve my website conversion goals?

Every website and business is different so your specific needs will vary, but the goal is the same. Your sidebar is there to serve your customers’ needs not your own desires to utilize all the neat gizmo gadgets and widgets that come with WordPress.

The most important factor in a successful website that converts is usability. Make sure the information presented on your website assists the user in getting what they want rather than distracting them with fluff.

Filed Under: Hints & Tips, How to, Strategy

Content is King

October 16, 2010 by pixelmepink 1 Comment

resourceLet’s face it. There is a lot of content out there but often times it is the same content that remains static and un-changed for month’s, even years! Assuming you spent a pretty penny on your beautiful website; you want to keep your target audience coming back to it, don’t you?

Here is where we welcome the world of blogs, video and other interactive forms of content delivery.

You want to turn that target audience into an interactive community. A community of people is inherently interactive and passionate about their interests. They want to share new information and special finds. They don’t want to read the same static information and they’re not interested in tweeting about your “services” page.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Strategy

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