Everyone tells you design is the key to your website’s success. But I have bad news for you. Design is the number 1 obstacle to people being able to engage on your website.
Importance of the Homepage
When a search engine sends you traffic it typically directs users to the homepage. Unless you have specific pages that match a user’s query, you have to assume a majority of people start on your homepage. This knowledge is key to building a homepage that people can engage with.
I use Google Analytics 4 Path Explorer to see how many people land on a homepage. Then I look to see how many people moved from the homepage into the rest of the site. What I typically see is less than 25% of users go from the homepage to another page. But this is not because of the content. It comes down to load time.
The basics of what you need for a homepage load in under 3 seconds.
This information is relevant to all web hosts. WordPress, WIX, Squarespace, ShowIt, etc give you everything including the kitchen sink to design your site into oblivion. You may want everything to be on the page to catch the eye of users, but the reality is…almost no one can see your site to start with. Here are a quick few tips:
- The top half of the page needs to have minimal motion, animation, and links. If you use parallax, animation for words, or video at the top of your page you blocking 75% of users from seeing your content.
- Do not overload this section with buttons to book an appointment either. Those can take up just as much time load as a parallax image.
- Animations need to be minimal and below the top half of the web page.
I won’t say design is not important but it is more about strategy than using every tool at your disposal.
The Strategy of Animation
As a marketing tool, your website is the cornerstone of your digital marketing plan. This means you need to think strategically about how you create and add motion to every page. It’s easy to feel the need to add all the text, all the sales pitches, and every little marketing tool you have on one page. But that will waste every second you put into creating your site.
Here are some simple questions to ask yourself when creating and designing your homepage.
- First, why is your ideal client visiting your website?
- Second, what questions does your ideal client want answered?
- Third, what are the key elements you need to draw attention to?
Let’s dig deeper into these questions.
Why is your ideal client visiting your website?
The easy answer is they found you because your website copy is so amazing that it brought in new traffic. See my blog on the website copy that builds relationships here. They may also be people who are referred to you or you networked with and made a connection to. Either way, you spoke your ideal client’s language and now they want more information.
What questions does your ideal client want answered?
Typically people visit websites to have three questions answered. One, do you understand the problem? Two, do you offer a solution and understand what outcome they need? Third, who are you and why can you help? Your homepage, when the copy is based on your ideal client language, will reassure them you are the one for them. That is what leads to conversion from organic traffic. I have a set homepage flow with CTA strategy to increase user engagement and conversion rate. But for any system to work quickly, you need to be clear on who you want to work with.
What are the key elements you need to draw attention to?
This is where animation and other moving aspects become a strategy. If everything on the page moves or jumps around, you will make most users sick and they will abandon your site. That is if they were able to load your site.
Different industries have different needs for focusing on key elements. One of my clients is a Restaurant Public Relations firm. They use animation to draw attention to different clients in their photography section. As you scroll over the images they pop out and you can see a hint of another image below it. This makes the users stop and investigate and usually click over to the client portfolio. This slows the user down, increases engagement time on your site, and increases the conversion rate.
When everything moves, nothing stands out. When you are deliberate about how you use a tool, that is when you have success.
The Key to Understanding Your Website is GA4
The reason I have this knowledge is I have been using Google Analytics 4 since October 2020. The information I have to determine how people engage on a site is crucial to my client’s success. The data I have is based on four years of work with clients in 25 different industries. If you don’t have a GA4 account, set it up. Even if you don’t know how to read the numbers someone does. And one day, the information will help you step into your next level of business.
What’s Next?
Look at your homepage and see if it answers the first three questions. How much animation did you use? If you make the changes, document the date of the change. You can go back into your GA4 and compare numbers to see the changes in engagement.
If this sounds like to much work and not enough time for you, let’s chat. I do offer a website assessment. It allows you to see how your site is performing with users. It also includes documentation on how to realign your homepage to increase engagement. If you want to discuss what the assessment is and how it can benefit your business click here for my calendar.
Or you can visit my website to learn more about what we do.