Although you probably feel like you look at it all the time, have you really looked at your homepage recently. And I don’t mean scanning over it or updating the odd product here and there, I mean really looking and then optimising how it is performing to ultimately convert more customers and generate more sales .
Think of window displays in bricks and mortar shops, these are regularly changed and usually show the best selling, most eye-catching products to entice customers into the store. Your homepage acts in the exact same way as this, so it’s important to do the following things:
Make sure you have a clear and obvious call to action. You want people to stick around so be clear and concise, get across quickly what you are selling and have links deeper into the website so they can easily explore.
Are you regularly looking at analytics to see where people are scrolling to and what they are clicking on? Use a behavioural analytics tool to see how people use your website so you can then make improvements and fix anything that isn’t working well. Are people always clicking on one link on the homepage and if so is this in the optimum position. Are people scrolling but not really clicking on anything as there aren’t any clear buttons? Which leads nicely to my next point.
See if your homepage is too long or too short. Using one of the suggested behavioural tools you can start to see if your homepage is the right length. If 90% of viewers only reach 50% of the page, are the most important things they need to see at the top. Are users scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page but still not really finding what they are looking for or maybe they aren’t seeing enough information about who you are/what you sell.
Does your homepage look more like a blog than a shop? Although copy is important for SEO and to help customers see what you are all about, don’t have too much! Remember, you are selling items and so you need to display these in the best possible way so it is clear and easy for someone to see what they may be buying. Keep your long copy for the blog and about pages.
Update your homepage regularly. New users to your site want to see relevant seasonal content, so make sure you are changing your banners, blogs and product categories regularly to reflect this. Also, your current customers may be returning to your website every few days, weeks or months so they will want to be excited by seeing new things. Pop this in your diary to update as often as you feel necessary.
