Your Home Page: What It Needs and What It Doesn't
Maybe you’re getting ready to create your website. Or perhaps you’re revamping yours because you feel it needs a refresh.
Whatever the reason, you’re ready to get going.
You’ve probably done some research.
Maybe you’ve looked at other sites you like. Or you’ve taken a website design course that emphasizes establishing your brand and value statement.
And, you’ve seen lots of stuff on home pages:
Outsized glammy pictures.
Lists of services with calls to action.
Bio snippets.
Testimonials.
A latest offer.
Freebies
Twitter feeds.
And more.
So, you fire up a blank page, ready to create your Home Page. As you start drafting, though, you realize you just aren’t sure what to include.
First, let me say, you are not alone. Building a website is an important step to developing and growing your business, one that you undertake after you have your marketing starting point established and have created an offer .
And your home page is the starting point for many of your potential customers as they enter and engage with your website.
Your Website as Your Business’ Home
Your website is the place where you welcome in potential clients. It’s the place where people can find out more about you and your business.
I call it your business’ home. And just like houses and apartments in the analog world, it can feel like there’s an almost infinite variety of styles, structures, design, functions and so on.
But your website’s home page has a very specific function.
Creating a compelling home page is something I work with clients on as part of my mentoring. And, today I’m going to share the three key questions your home page needs to answer and one it doesn’t.
Who Is This For?
The first thing an effective home page does is to let people know they’re in the right place. Or not.
According to Hubspot, the average time on a website in total (all pages) is around 54 seconds – under a minute! For all pages. I’ve heard marketers talk about landing on Home Pages and deciding in under 10 seconds to click away.
In any case, people decide fast if they want to stay or go.
So it’s essential to let them know that they’re in the right place. Right away.
You do this by establishing up front who you help and what you help them with. This will let people know they are in the right place (or not.) For example, the banner on my website reads “Does Marketing Feel Like a Struggle?” If someone lands there, this tells them instantly what I help people with.
I have the knowledge and experience to help people with their marketing when it’s not a struggle, but this isn’t what I do in my business. Someone who’s doing fine with their marketing, their business is well-established, full and in momentum but wants to develop a different marketing strategy or reach a different target market will know right away by my home page that I’m not the person to help them.
And that’s by design.
On the other hand, people who ARE struggling with their marketing, will likely read on.
Which is what you want.
What about you?
Do you help people exhausted by religion who are longing for a deeper sense of Spirit?
Do you help coaches, healers or other leaders learn how to use their intuition to make a difference in the world?
Do you help leaders who need to develop their team's and organization's capability and confidence to innovate?
Do you help people who are lonely and discourage in their marriage?
If so, make that clear as soon as someone lands on your home page.
Do You See Them?
The next question your home page needs to answer is whether you see your potential clients. And the most effective way to do this is through creating empathy. You might share a scenario, a common way they’re feeling, or their core frustration.
You demonstrate, through your copy, that you understand them.
Since your potential clients have arrived on your site, hoping you can help them, this is key to them feeling good enough about you to learn more.
This is what will let them step a little closer to you and your business, staying open and curious.
How Can They Find Out More?
And that brings us to the last question your home page needs to answer: How Can They Find Out More? Your website overall is a way for you to have a conversation with your potential clients, and you’d like to be able to continue that conversation with them through you sharing your ongoing content.
So, if your potential clients feel like they might be in the right place, and they feel like you see them, next you can invite them to sign up to your mailing list. This way, they’ll begin to hear from you regularly. They’ll get to understand your approach to the work, your style. They’ll get help from you through the insights, teachings or inspiration you share on a regular basis.
So toward the end of your home page, you can invite them to subscribe to your list. Here, you can also let them know you value their privacy (and treat their information) and that they can unsubscribe at any time. You can also give them an idea of how often and what types of content they’ll receive from you.
This can be a beautiful beginning of their journey toward you and your business.
You Don’t Need to Answer: What About Me?
The home page does not need to answer this question. In general, you don’t need to overload the page with information about yourself, such as testimonials, your bio, your latest offer or services and the like.
There will be time and space for this elsewhere in your website and in the relationship you have with your potential clients. And it’s too soon to do so in that first few seconds of them landing on your website.
That’s like going to a car mechanic with an issue with your car, and instead of hearing you out, they launch in and start talking about their credentials, where they studied, what awards they’d won, etc.
When someone lands on your home page, you want to keep the focus on them and what they need, not on yourself.
When you’re working on your website’s home page, there is a lot to consider from a design, branding and overall look and feel perspective. But for your messaging, your home page needs to establish who your business is for, let your potential clients know you understand them and invite them in to learn more about you and your business. By doing so, you’ll help open the doorway to your ideal clients and invite them to take a step closer.
If you think you might like help with your home page and other key elements to effective marketing, like establishing your foundation, creating offers, website messaging, content creation and running campaigns, I invite you to sign up for a free marketing assessment.
In our call, I'll ask you questions about where you're at with your business' marketing journey, then I'll do a short energy reading on the essence of your business. I'll let you know what's working well and what wants attention. Then, I'll offer practical guidance on a next step that can help you move ahead.
Getting clarity on where to focus is the first step to stop struggling with your marketing and to getting more clients.
For more information and to sign up: www.innerwisdomwayfinding.com/free-assessment