Q: How can I make my Home page more effective?

Matthew Williams, Managing Director of Quba responds.

A: Your Home page has to be all things to all people, so it has to work on a number of levels depending on the needs of each visitor to your site. A good rule to follow is AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Attention

A good Home page needs to have a focal point that will grab the visitor's attention and launch them on a journey around your site. Typically, a main banner area with an image and a headline might be used. This should convey what you do in an arresting manner, inspiring the visitor to explore further.

Interest

'Second level' Home page content should underpin your main message and provide supporting information to back it up. It should appeal to many different types of visitor, perhaps taking the form of feature boxes or deep linking into specific sections within the site.

Desire

Desire is created via incentives, offers and other content that reassures the visitor that your site and your organisation are right for them. This might take the form of case studies or industry awards, special offers, or free information or research.

Action

Including clear calls to action on every page is vital, but perhaps nowhere more so than on the Home page. From the main banner message down to smaller feature boxes, all should feature clear and unambiguous instructions to the visitor. These will obviously vary depending on the nature of your business, the complexity of the action required and the size of the website itself.

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