Generally speaking, the homepage is seen as the portal through which you attract website traffic and funnel readers through other pages. However, successful companies find that homepages are also good for directly generating leads. Is your homepage optimized in a manner that allows it to produce leads?
5 Ways to Optimize Your Homepage Lead Generation
Your homepage should be more than a placeholder or facilitator. In other words, it should do more than just drive visitors to product pages, blog posts, and opt-in forms. In order to be truly effective, it needs to generate leads.
Here are some specific suggestions:
1. Add Contact Information
You obviously need a contact tab in the navigation menu, but it’s also helpful to include it in the header, footer, and throughout the homepage. It may also be a smart idea to include a live chat feature (if you can reasonably support it). This allows you to engage people who are on-the-go (such as riding the train to work) or in situations where they can’t talk on the phone (such as at work or in the library).
Recommended for you: 4 Excellent Ideas to Create Stunning Above the Fold Content.
2. Keep it Simple
Simple web design – such as this iPhone X homepage – does a far better job of conveying value and driving visitors to the action than complex sites with tons of different features and lots of textual content. It forces the visitor to focus on the elements that matter, rather than being distracted by excess noise (which typically doesn’t support the underlying call to action).
3. Provide Points of Engagement
One suggestion is to include some sort of search feature within the homepage. This is especially valuable if you have a broad product offering with lots of options. The Jim Hudson Toyota website is a good example of what this looks like in practice. They have a search bar for users to filter inventory and find exactly what they’re looking for.
If you have a particularly complex product, the video is another way to directly engage visitors. As the web developer, Dave McGowan mentions,
“Internet users expect to get the information they want fast – that’s why explainer videos have emerged as one of the best tools for homepage lead generation, especially when you’re dealing with a product or service that’s abstract or complex.”
4. Establish Trust
As you incorporate elements of social proof into your homepage, keep the average visitor in mind. What are their biggest doubts and/or points of friction? Use social proof elements that overwhelm these areas and move visitors to action.
You may also like: Tricks & Tips to Make Your Design Soar Above & Beyond.
5. Make an Irresistible Offer
Set Yourself Up for Homepage Lead Generation Success
When a prospective buyer visits an open house for a home they’re interested in buying, first impressions are everything. Good curb appeal goes a long way towards the purchase decision.
In terms of web design and online lead generation, your website’s homepage has a direct impact on your brand’s “curb appeal.” If the homepage is crisp, targeted, and effective, conversions will flow as a natural byproduct.
Optimize with this in mind.