Your Home Page is NOT Your Website
Gerry McGovern's recent post on the decline of the home page reminded me of a similar post I wrote last year.
However, while I wholeheartedly agree with the overall point he is making, the issue is not that
…too many marketers and communicators are destroying whatever credibility their homepages have left with customers by filling them with useless graphics and meaningless words.
While this may have been true a few years ago, the majority of web teams have moved beyond happy, smiling faces and marketing jargon to creating home pages that are useful and engaging.
The problem is simply that there is an undue emphasis on a website's home page relative to the attention it receives from its users. This is not surprising given that this is the main page by which the web team will be judged, whether it is by internal decision makers or external peers.
Your CEO (or other C-level exec) is not going to be too familiar with most of your website, but you can be sure he knows what the home page looks like. And may have some opinions on it…
The challenge is that the visitors to a website constitute a vast, silent majority while the opinions of those internal and external people who interact with and influence the web team have a far greater sway over where focus is placed.
The answer is, of course, metrics. If you can show that taking a holistic approach to your site and improving other parts of it can produce a higher return on investment than endlessly tweaking the home page, you will be able to keep your influencers happy and meet the needs of your visitors.
Good luck with that.
Posted on: April 19, 2010 | 21 Comments
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21 Comments Posted
How about websites with a general majority of eeeeh... dumb users? I have a huge problem with one of my site's audience, they still tend to look only at the top of the first page and they expect everything, including pages that are six levels deep (I know it's not a good idea, but the structure of the site and the amount of data dictate such hierarchy) to be linked from the top of the front page. I just don't know how to educate my audience! :(
1. Posted by Iva on April 20, 2010
Iva — typically your home page (and your website) cannot properly support the competing needs of a range audiences (say, more than three). You really need to home in on which group of people are your most important visitors and serve them as best you can.
If your core audience needs your home page to be a link directory then that's how you should present it. Of course, there are different ways that you can organize and present your links while still giving your visitors the access they need.
2. Posted by Christian Watson on April 20, 2010
The company I'm currently working for unfortunately places too much emphasis on the homepage. I find that my major battles are fought trying to educate the stake holders and not the audience. Our statistics show that with PPC, the vast majority of qualified traffic points to the relevant landing pages but yet the business still wants everything, most of which is useless to the end user, on the homepage. Frustrating!
3. Posted by Evan Skuthorpe on April 20, 2010
Right to the point. I see websites that are just a link farm. Who can trust such a site. Provide information.
Thanks for the great article.
4. Posted by Deb on April 20, 2010
A lot of attention on the homepage is also given when doing link building, although it is proven that deep links are better than homepage links. However, you're right in this post, definitely the homepage is not the website. :)
5. Posted by Web Design on April 21, 2010
With advent of blog mania, I couldn't agree more.
6. Posted by Joe from Bozeman Carpet Cleaning on April 29, 2010
But my web design guelph home page really is my website :) it is functional and does the job it is supposed to do - i.e. capture leads.
You can call it an ugly duckling but the bottom line is - go unashamedly with what works!
7. Posted by Web Design Guelph on May 01, 2010
well the most prominent thing is site structure and its on page optimization.
8. Posted by Website Design on May 05, 2010
thansks for article but i dont agree with you.
9. Posted by zaoka on May 11, 2010
Hello Friend
I Really Don't Know That,But..
I Wanna Just Tell You That, If Your Site Content Is Heavy(I Mean The Concept Of Wording Is Meaningful Then Site Home Page Is Useful To You)Then Everyone Read That Carefully.
Home Page Is Not Your Site But Everything Depend On Home Page.Your Home Page Design & Development And Concept Is Attractive So All Are Read At list One Time.
See I Am Not Saying That You Are Wrong,You Are Hundred Percent Right.
I Fully Agree With You...
Thanks For Sharing Knowledge..
Keep Sharing...
10. Posted by Vatsal Pithadiya on May 12, 2010
Hi, i agree that you home page is not your website - but the majority of user will see it first, the main thing is that your homepage represents the websites purpose at a glance (eg selling fishing gear) - ps this post is abit confusing
11. Posted by web design sam on May 12, 2010
Home Page is a very important page as it is the first page of your website. Most of the times it is the first page that a visitor sees when the site is visited. Therefore the home page has to be attractive, dynamic and impressive. But there is no need to overdo it. Someone mentioned home pages are designed with the intention of optimization. However home page is not the website.
12. Posted by designer on May 12, 2010
This has always been the case. Homepages are made to make you not think, and almost all content there is not read at all.
13. Posted by Corey Zeimen on May 12, 2010
They say the average person browsing the internet has a 3 second concentration span. Make sure your home page catches their attention quickly. If they like it and it suites the topic or product they are searching for, they will continue to read more.
14. Posted by Wayne Mc Connell on May 14, 2010
The homepage does serve multiple purposes. It's often the fist page a visitor sees, so it could take on different responsibilities. For example it should say something about what the organization is or does. It also sends a visual message across, by that I mean that people will get a feeling them through the style that is employed. But again and again content is king.
15. Posted by Superstar web design on May 16, 2010
I doesn't understand Your Home Page is NOT Your Website means.
Actually lot of People given more attention on the homepage
when it doing link building, although it is proven that deep links are better than homepage links.
It may be you right because Home Page is not the website.
thanks guys nice Discussion.
16. Posted by Ruchi on May 17, 2010
Most websites fail to generate as much business leads as they are intended to and this is largely due to ill placed information, lack of information or poor usability. A rational customer, before making a purchase, would actually like to know how well you support your product services after he buys it. And more often than not, the home page or the main information page on the websites highlights the ‘buy now’ or ‘buy today’ with the customer support / product support link hidden somewhere in the footer or the far corner.
17. Posted by mukti studios on May 22, 2010
Yep, sometimes it's just hard to keep some graphic or text from the main home page, and that is why some people stick all kinds of junk on the front page.
18. Posted by Vladimir on June 23, 2010
It's hilarious how many people title themselves "Web Designer" without a shred of experience or talent these days. I see 13 year old kids on forums asking about the simplest of precepts in Web Design while at the same time sporting a user name like "Web Designer Josh". It seems like people think they can masquerade as self-titled experts just because the majority of the world doesn't know shit about Web Design. Please for gods sake STOP pretending to be a Web Designer, go read a book or 20 and then adopt the title when you actually know something. If these fucktards titled themselves something like Architect or Scientist, almost anyone would call their bluff and make them look like the retarded imbeciles they are.
19. Posted by Craig on July 07, 2010
I guess non-designer can be a bit confused by this
20. Posted by Local Web Design on July 11, 2010
Agreed, a site needs to be professional. So many "designers" clutter pages with unneeded pics that don't even relate to the content. Clean and simple is all you need. One pic is plenty for most pages.
21. Posted by Joe - Carpet Cleaning Redmond on August 26, 2010