10 tips for the perfect website homepage in 2019

The homepage is the cornerstone of your website. A clear design and user experience, unique and precise content, and a fast loading time: these elements are essential to win over your persona. But ultimately, how do you go about creating the perfect website homepage?

Creating the perfect website homepage

Homepage: the persona remains central

Let us not forget: the homepage is not the main entry point to your website. Nevertheless, it must allow your persona (or personas) to dive headfirst into the conversion funnel you have set up.
In order to be as effective as possible, it is important to have identified your website's target audience as clearly as possible and to have defined your persona or personas precisely.

No to the splash page

When it comes to website homepages, choosing a splash page would undoubtedly be the worst possible decision.
A splash page is light on information. Often, it contains an image or an animation with a "Click to enter the site" button.
This kind of practice was fairly common until 2007 and is no longer appreciated by internet users at all. It would be worth calculating the bounce rate of sites with a splash page to confirm the poor impression it creates.

Yes to clear, simplified navigation on your homepage

You must do everything possible to facilitate navigation on your homepage. Visitors to your website come to find specific information. So put everything in place to ensure your content can be found easily from your homepage. Improving your navigation menu is essential. In other words: work on your user experience.

Have a design suited to your target audience

If the design of your website's homepage does not appeal, there is a strong chance you will achieve poor results.
Adapt the content and design of your homepage to your target audience. Remember to always keep things as simple as possible.

Use plain language

The purpose of your website homepage should be clearly identifiable very quickly. Using plain language will help you keep visitors on your homepage for longer. This plain language should also come through in the customer testimonials we recommend including on your homepage.

Don't be afraid to showcase your news

A dynamic website with plenty of news items will always tend to appeal to visitors. Visitors will see that your organisation is active. From an SEO perspective, this practice could help push you towards the top of search engine results. You can use your blog articles as well as content from your social media channels (including Instagram or LinkedIn).

Identify yourself clearly

Visitors to your website need to know who you are!
Logo, strapline, and also a link to a dedicated page! Do not hesitate to explain who you are and why you exist. You can also present yourself through carousel images.

Loading speed

This may seem like a minor detail, but think again! Page loading speed is a factor taken into account by Google's algorithms when calculating SEO rankings. In other words: the lighter your content, the better your ranking. So opt for high-quality, low-file-size images. If your homepage takes more than 2 seconds to load, your website will rank poorly.

The place of the Call to Action

The Call to Action (or CTA) is an incentive button that guides the visitor towards what you expect from them. This CTA is the essential gateway to conversion.
This button must:

• Be easy to identify;
• Be immediately visible;
• Be compelling — it should describe what will happen when clicked.

You can include several CTAs on your homepage, but pay more attention to the one that will benefit you most. A different colour or font can be enough.
The HTTP5000 Agency in Lyon advises positioning your CTA in your navigation menu so that it is always visible.

What about social media?

In 2019, social media is indispensable. Do not hesitate to feature them on the homepage of your website so that visitors can easily interact with your organisation.

Consider using video

The popularity of video platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo speaks for itself. You can embed a video uploaded to these platforms to present your organisation. By embedding a YouTube video — one that you have created — you do not increase your loading time and you reinforce your credibility with Google (since YouTube belongs to Google).

We have not listed every single best practice for building the perfect website homepage. Nevertheless, if you put these tips into practice, you will have a very solid foundation to build on.
We will return in a few weeks to provide you with more in-depth information on homepages.