Creating a homepage for capturing visitor attention
In 2000, the average person’s attention span stood at 12 seconds. Today, it’s decreased to just 8 seconds. So what does this mean for your website?
Your website’s homepage is your digital storefront. It’s the first impression that people will have of your brand, and it’s therefore essential that it captures the attention of visitors. In fact, users will form an opinion about your website in just 0.05 seconds!
Your website needs to look and function optimally from the very first moment a visitor lands on it. In the following blog, we’ll explore the essential elements of an attention-grabbing homepage.
1. Make sure you have a compelling heading and subheading: The first text that visitors will see on your homepage is your heading. This heading must communicate your brand value clearly, immediately letting them know what your business’s core offering is in a simple and impactful way. Your subheading should reinforce your heading and summarise the key benefits your products or services offer in a single sentence. How can your product solve a problem?
2. Use a strong hero image or video: Your hero image should capture the attention of visitors and create an emotional connection. This image should support your message and stay true to your unique brand. Visitors should get a clear sense of your brand just from looking at your hero and high quality images or videos are essential.
3. Invest in responsive design: There are now more mobile phones than there are people in the world. Mobile accounts for more than 50% of web traffic globally and atthe end of 2023, mobile devices (excluding tablets) were responsible for a whopping 58.67 percent of global website traffic. If your site isn’t optimised for every device, you’re essentially alienating more than half of your potential customers.
4. Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) above the fold: You want visitors to be so engaged with your brand, that they can’t help but take immediate action. Whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, learning more about your services, booking a call with your team, shopping your range or buying your product, your CTA needs to be clear and concise. Use direct language such as ‘Book Now’ or ‘Buy Now’ and ensure your button really stands out by using contrasting colours.
5. Create strong, engaging copy that speaks to the benefits of your offering: Within your homepage copy, you need to quickly and effectively communicate the benefits that people can expect from your products or services. To capture users’ attention most effectively, it’s a good rule of thumb to focus on advantages. Why should visitors care? How will your product improve their lives? There will be plenty of time within the subpages of your site to go into detail about your product’s features so here you can usebullet points to help clarify your messages and break up the page. Long paragraphs of text are harder to read and can be frustrating for visitors at a first glace..
6. Implement user-friendly navigation and an intuitive interface: No one should have to go digging to find out why you’re worthy of their time or investment. Simplify the visitor journey and hold their attention by making it easy for them to find the information they’re most likely to need. A clean and simple navigation bar streamlines their experience on your site and an intuitive menu with clear labelling (and drop-down options if necessary) will make navigating your site a dream. Taking the time to get this right will be worth it as most consumers prioritise navigation as the most important feature in digital platforms and additionally, a well-designed user interface has the power to boost a website's conversion rate by up to 200%, and a better UX design can achieve conversion rates of up to 400%.
7. Incorporate social proof and trust signals: Customers want to see reviews. With 75% of consumers reporting that they ‘always’ or ‘regularly’ read reviews, they’re bound to lose interest and click away from your homepage if this element is missing.. Incorporating social proof and trust signals on your homepage is essential for building credibility and gaining the trust of new visitors. By showcasing testimonials, reviews, or case studies from satisfied customers, you can demonstrate the value your product or service provides. Showing logos of well-known clients or trust badges such as awards, certifications, or seals demonstrates your credibility and helps convert interest into action.
8. Think fast—literally: Our attention spans are significantly dwindling. Your visitors expect fast-loading pages, and if you can’t provide this experience , they will leave. After just five seconds, the average bounce rate is already 38% and, forB2B, a site that loads in one second or less has a 5x higher conversion rate than a site that loads in 10 seconds. Similarly, B2C sites that load in a second convert 2.5x more than sites that load in five seconds.
Your website is one of the most important features of your brand collateral, and its homepage is the cover of your brand book. As much as we say not to judge a book by its cover, today’s digital consumers will do just that so get in touch today to find out how we can help you craft a better homepage experience.