In the last post of this series we talked about all of the different pages for your site.
In this installment of the website content blueprint, we are going to focus on the first page that people usually visit.
The home page.
This page needs to capture the attention of your visitors. We will discuss some of the vital elements to make that happen.
Headline
Within the first few seconds of visiting the site you want your visitors to know what your site has to offer. For a lot of sites this could be your name, but you might want to think about how to be more descriptive. Most of us are not famous enough to be recognized by name alone.
Tagline
Also referred to as a Sub-headline you want to offer a brief description of what it is that you do. What is it that you offer? You want to zero in on what makes you stick out.
Main Header Image
The header image on your site is going to set the tone of your entire website, it might be the most important thing on your homepage. You want an image that represents what you do.
Short Bio
If someone came to your site and has no idea who you are or what you do what would you tell them in 10 seconds, this is known as an “elevator pitch.”
Call to Action
When I first started learning about sales and marketing, I was always like “a call to what??” I like to think of it like this “Hey you, yeah you visitor to my site person. I want you to do this.” This could be: sign up for our email list, donate to our organization, get tickets for our concert, or sign up for our workshop. The typical way to do this is with a box of contrasting color containing some directive text and a button directing the visitor to the action you want them to take.
Social Proof
Also called Testimonials, social proof is a powerful indicator of trust. Include just a few of your best short quotes on your homepage, you can link to full articles if applicable. Adding a name and photo will make the testimonials more credible.
News Items
Use this area to feature your most recent activity. Pick just a few of your most major items such as new recordings, upcoming performances, awards, etc. These can just be excerpts with links to full articles on a news page.
Social Icons
We all know the importance of Social Media, but how do we incorporate these into our site? There are two main types of Social Media buttons- profile links and sharing links. What you will want to put on your homepage are profile links which when clicked will take the visitor to your profile page on that social platform. The standard places to put these icons are either in the upper right hand corner on in the footer of the site.
Navigation
This might seem obvious, but you want to make sure it is simple to get around your site from your homepage. Make sure the navigation is visible at the top of the page, and make it simple and easy to find.
You want to keep in mind when deciding what to put on your homepage that simplicity is important.
Now that you understand what to put on your home page, in the next installment of the blueprint we will dive into the about/bio page.