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Web Site Page Elements:
How to Write a Powerful Home Page
Three critical elements on your home page determine the success of your website. They are the headline, the body, and the call to action. When you write them well, you grab your visitor's attention. But when you write them poorly, you turn business away.
Headline — Grab Their Attention
The headline occupies the most valuable space on the home page. Your visitor's eyes land on this text first, so it needs to be packed with attention-getting words. Based on what your headline says, your potential clients either continue reading or make a fast exit.
Sadly, many web sites waste this prime space with headlines that say, "Welcome to My Website." The desire to be gracious is commendable but in this case, misguided.
A "Welcome" headline tells your visitors nothing about what you offer or how you can solve their problem. Before you have a chance to share that information in the body of your home page, they have clicked away to another web site. Remember, most visitors stay on a website less than 30 seconds!
Make your headlines powerful. Use words that say how your service relieves the visitor's pain or makes them feel good. In other words, use words that state or imply how they will benefit from using your product or service.
The Body — Keep Them Reading
Now that you have your visitor's attention, you need to keep it. The body provides the substance of the home page. It describes a problem visitors emotionally relate to. And it shows the solution (benefits) that your business provides.
The key elements within the body are the first line, the first paragraph and the subheadings. The first line draws your visitors into the substance of the page. The rest of the first paragraph hooks them. The remaining paragraphs give beneficial information.
A great first line is a startling statistic. For example, an insurance broker who specializes in finding the best health insurance values could start her web page like with this statistic:
The average American worker is paying 100% more in out-of-pocket health insurance costs than 7 years ago.
The broker could then show how her services help clients reduce their health insurance costs – and improve their enjoyment of life.
The next important element of the body is subheadings. Even though your visitors have started exploring your home page, you need to keep convincing them that you have valuable content to share. Most visitors scan down the page, looking for proof.
Subheadings make the page easy to scan. To make them as effective as possible, include benefits in them. The insurance broker's subheading might read "Same coverage at lower cost." The entire subheading is a benefit. Not only does the client get lower cost. He gets it without sacrificing the extent of coverage.
In summary, the body needs a strong first line and paragraph to draw the visitor into the content. It needs subheadings to make it easy to scan. And it needs content that is rich with benefits and useful information.
Call To Action — Encourage Them To Do Business With You
All of your effort to keep your visitors engaged is wasted if you don't tell them what to do next. A Call to Action gives you the opportunity to build a relationship with the visitor. It guides them to do what you want them to do.
Your Call to Action depends on your business. For example, you can tell visitors where to find information on your website about your services, your products or your clients. You can invite them to call for a complimentary consultation. Or you can urge them to register for your workshop or place an order.
Don't leave them dangling. Tell them what to do next with a Call to Action. Make it easy for them to explore your website and do business with you.
©2008 Rose Muenker
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Rose Muenker, founder of GetGreatResults.com is an award-winning writer who helps entrepreneurs and service professionals promote their businesses effectively through powerfully written marketing materials and web site content.
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Article Reprints — This article is legally protected by copyright.
You may reprint this article or publish it on your web site, if you use the entire article, including the title, author byline, copyright notice and author bio. For more information, please send an email to Rose Muenker.
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