The Importance of Your Homepage

 In the digital age, we rely on our smart phones, laptops, and tablets to research all products. Instead of finding a copy of consumer report, we now have access to all product information at our fingertips. When considering a decision that involves money, we open our phones, Google the product, service, or location and visit the website, read reviews, and gather all relevant information before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

 Sometimes we underestimate the implications of instant access to information. It revolutionizes the way you market. Instead of wasting time and money on advertising to the general public, the internet allows you to market to consumers when as they start their customer journey. This increases the odds of converting that lead into a sale. Using analytics and Google Ads puts your website in front of them, but this requires your website to create a positive first impression when they visit it.

 First impressions matter. Just like when meeting a person, when a person visits your website, they develop a first impression based on appearance, personality, and functionality. The first step of creating a first impression depends on your website’s load time. Anything over three seconds usually results in the potential customer leaving the page. A recent survey by Dotcom Tools reported that 47% of people expect a desktop webpage to load in two seconds or less and a mobile site in three seconds or less. With each increasing second, bounce rates rise rapidly (Per Dotcom Tools).

• 1-3 Second Page Load Time – 32% bounce rate increase
• 1-5 Second Page Load Time – 90% bounce rate increase
• 1-6 Second Page Load Time – 106% bounce rate increase
• 1-10 Second Page Load Time – 123% bounce rate increase

 A quick load time keeps your consumers on your page initially, but to create a good first impression, your website needs to draw them in. Invest in a talented web designer to create your website. Using proper contrast, font size, font-weight, and spacing draws the audience’s eyes to what you want them to read. Spend significant time reviewing your content to ensure it conveys your message concisely. Limit the clutter as cluttered websites make navigation difficult and increase load time.

Three Website Tips

1. Less is More – Consumers love sleek, smooth-looking websites with minimal clutter. Look at Apple’s website. It uses white and black, two non-flashy colors, as the primary colors for the site. They effectively use white space to accentuate their products on display.
2. Video Content – Most people prefer video content to reading text. Studies show that people retain 80% of something they watched in the past 30 days. Using videos to explain things reduces the clutter on a webpage and allows for unique ways to share information about your website other than just a written description.
3. Invest in Quality – People associate poor website quality with scams or shoddy products. Investing in a professionally done website helps associate your brand with high quality and therefore your product with high quality. Cutting corners on the website to reduce costs usually hurts your brand rather than helping it.