Most of the visitors to your website will land on your home page. What will they find? Dull, uninspiring words that make them want to click away or simple, engaging copy that gets them reaching for their wallet? Your home page sets the tone for your whole site and is vital to the success of your online presence. So how do you get it right?
• It’s about more than words. All three elements of a website have to work well for the website to be a real success – so fabulous copy have to go hand in hand with great design and brilliant functionality (how easy it is to use). It doesn’t matter if you have the best words in the world if you make it too hard for people to order. Consider using a professional design company or at least a clean template – remember, first impressions count. Keep your navigation as simple as possible and ensure that ordering or contacting you is easy.
• This is not the time for War and Peace. Web users aren’t the most patient of people so you website copy needs to be short and snappy. Don’t waffle on for hours and make sure your home page clearly explains what you do, what you sell or what the website is about. If you need more in depth information leave it for pages deeper inside your website.
• Break it up. Scrolling down through huge paragraphs of text is off-putting for even the most interested of customers so try using sub headings. Catchy headlines can introduce ideas, engage your customers and push the visitor right along to the shopping cart or contact page.
• You’re so vain. Website copy should not be about you and your company – it has to work from the reader’s perspective. A good rule of thumb is to use the word ‘you’ more than you use ‘I’ or ‘we’. Your content has to answer the number one question for any buyer, ‘What’s in it for me?’. Don’t use the home page to talk about the many wonderful features of your product or service – get to the good stuff, think benefits and what it will do for your customer.
• Keywords are key. Search engines (such as google) look on websites for keywords which then determine where you appear in the listings when someone searches on a particular term. You need to make sure that you include keywords that your customers are likely to search for (especially in headlines and sub headings). Keyword research takes a bit of legwork; you need to figure out the words your potential customers are tapping into the search engines and what keywords your competitors are using. You also need to think about keyword density (number of keywords in a page). There are handy tools such as www.wordtracker.co.uk that can help with the right keywords for your site.
• Stiff upper lip? Imagine your home page copy is like a salesman in a shop – keep it personal. The old adage, people buy from people is very true and every visitor wants to feel like you know them and understand what they want. It is important that your website fits with the tone of voice of your organisation but you can afford to be less formal than you would be in your annual report…
• We are the champions. If your home page copy is your salesman then your whole website is your shop. The home page is the place to build credibility and trust – we live in a cynical age where web users distrust over hyped claims, exaggeration and ‘marketing speak’. You should blow your trumpet, just don’t ram it down their throats.
• Check it. There is nothing worse than launching a web site then realising there are a dozen spelling errors on the home page. If you think people don’t notice, they do. Spelling mistakes, complicated sentences and missed punctuation all have a negative impact on your web visitors. Proofread everything before you launch your site, then grab another person with a fresh pair of eyes to do the same.
