Having a great homepage can help you build trust with your customers, provide an excellent first impression of your company and generally earn you more sales.
When you first set up your website, it’s likely you put a lot of effort into getting your homepage right. But, it’s important that you continue to tweak and optimize it to ensure it continues to perform well. Let’s look at some simple ways you can adjust your homepage to drive conversions.
Help people move forward in their buying journey
Online shoppers are mainly looking for convenience when purchasing items or services online. This means you can likely increase your website’s conversion rate by helping people move forward in their buying journey quickly and easily from your homepage.
Many businesses make the mistake of forcing people to jump through multiple hoops or browse different pages before they can actually buy something. However, the easier it is to convert, the more likely people will spend money with you.
So, make it as simple as possible for people to move forward in their buying journey from your business’s homepage. Here are some ways you can do this:
- Provide a prominent call-to-action (CTA) button that takes them straight to your most popular product or service page so they can find the information they need as quickly as possible.
- Offer a sophisticated search tool that will allow people to navigate right to whatever they’re hoping to buy so they can browse your store with ease.
- Offer a “book a consultation” form that allows people to register their interest with you so a staff member can get in touch with them as soon as possible.
Let’s look at a company that uses a simple contact form on its homepage to help drive people forward in their buying journey.
Take a look at this example from the law firm The Tinker Law Firm PLLC. They offer a form right on their homepage that allows visitors to book a free consultation by providing some basic details.
The form’s header tells potential clients exactly what it should be used for so people interested in a free consultation know what to do. And, it only has a few fields to reduce the chances that people will abandon the idea of converting because they don’t have the time or energy to provide a lot of information.
You can use a similar form on your homepage to encourage more people to move forward in their buying journey or reach out to receive more information about what you can do for them. Just be sure to keep your form fields to a minimum and surround it with convincing copy that makes it clear you can help them. This will catch your website visitors’ eyes, give them a reason to convert, and make doing so incredibly easy.
Another great example of a company that helps to drive customers forward in their buying journeys from its homepage comes from the online people search tool Intelius.
As soon as someone lands on the company’s website, they can use the business’ tool to find the information they’re looking for — they don’t need to find a specific product or service page to get started. Plus, the tool itself is incredibly simple to use. Visitors can see that they’ll only need to input four simple details about the person they’re looking for to get started. The fact that it’s clearly so convenient to use is sure to help get more conversions for the company.
Grab people’s attention with strong imagery that serves a real purpose
When visitors land on your homepage, you want to engage them right away to ensure they convert as quickly as possible. Creating your homepage by thinking creatively and visualy how you can appeal to visitors is key. Strong visuals offer a great way to grab people’s attention and you can show potential customers the benefits and value that your business offers using them.
For inspiration, let’s look at a company that does a great job of using strong images on their homepage to help connect their audience with the brand and drive more conversions.
Bizango, a Seattle-based web design agency, displays samples of their previous work right on their homepage to show customers the type of web design and marketing projects they work on.
It’s clear that some of the business’ projects have been for well-known companies, which will help this visual portfolio to earn the company’s target customers’ trust. After all, if these reputable companies have trusted Bizango with their websites, why shouldn’t a new client? The images of past projects also highlight the quality of the services they provide, and this can help potential customers choose them over other web design agencies.
Win visitors’ trust with positive customer reviews
Customers won’t just take your word for it when you say your company is the best in your industry. You’ll need to win their trust if you want them to buy your products or services.
Customer reviews offer a great way to win the trust of potential customers because they will explain how you have helped past customers. You can display customer reviews on your homepage to show how your products and services address the needs of your target audience, and that you understand your market. This can help drive more engagement and result in a higher conversion rate for your website.
One of the best ways to collect more reviews is to reach out to past customers who have had a positive experience with you. You can also reach out to customers who have purchased from you several times, since these people are more likely to enjoy your products and services.
Once you have a good collection of positive reviews, display them prominently on your homepage. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of them:
- Keep reviews short to ensure readers see the message you want to share.
- Try to have your customers include keywords relevant to your business in their reviews. This can help you rank higher in search engine results.
- Ask customers to include detailed and specific information in each review to ensure they connect with potential customers’ concerns and pain points.
And remember to regularly refresh your reviews to show visitors that you have legions of loyal, enthusiastic customers.
For inspiration, let’s look at an example of a business that uses customer reviews on its homepage to help increase its conversion rate and connect with readers.
Felix Health, an online pharmacy, has placed a scrolling carousel on their homepage that features genuine reviews from actual patients.
These reviews do a great job of outlining the benefits of Felix Health, like their speedy delivery, fast response times and the financial savings people enjoyed once they started using Felix Health. All of these factors can help drive more engagement and increase the company’s conversion rate.
You can use the same strategy on your homepage by choosing reviews that highlight the value that your products or services have delivered to your past customers. This information can help build trust with potential customers looking for your solutions, and this can lead to a higher conversion rate for your business’s website.
Make your homepage copy as helpful as possible
The copy you place on your homepage can make or break a sale. And, because you won’t want to publish large blocks of text, you only have a limited amount of space to get your point across, so every word counts. This means your homepage should only include the necessary information to get customers hooked.
Here are some tips for crafting excellent homepage copy:
- Outline what customers can expect from you so you can establish expectations and let customers know if your products or services are a good fit for their needs.
- Follow Google’s mobile-first algorithm and make your content mobile-friendly by writing shorter sentences and using white space.
- Highlight past results and customer reviews on your homepage to build trust with your target audience.
The right keywords help you reach the right people
As an online business owner, you’ll already know the importance of attracting the right people to your website. And, one of the most effective ways you can do this is through search engine optimization, or SEO. This involves using a range of strategies that can help you to rank for the most appropriate Google queries. And, a huge element of this involves targeting the right keywords with your homepage copy.
You can also use a tool like Ahrefs to find common terms people use when searching for information about your products or services. This keyword research tool offers a great way to find high search volume terms with low competition to ensure your content stands out from your competitors, and that you’re writing valuable copy people genuinely want.
But the best way to avoid keyword cannibalization is to work with experts.
Summary
The homepage of your business’s website is where you will effectively develop a personal brand to build your business on. So, you must take steps to ensure they develop a positive view of your company — especially if you are looking to increase your conversion rate.
Use these tips to optimize your homepage, and soon you’ll see more conversions as more and more visitors will be captivated by your website.
