Do you love being at home?
Home is inviting, open and a comfortable place to be, like a cozy chair. It’s your den.
And how do you enter your home? Through your front door. It should give a positive first impression; the greeting that visitor’s receive on arrival should be warm and encouraging to call back.
That’s exactly the way your Home page on your website should be. But unfortunately online you’re never sure which door your visitors are going to enter through, due to the long tail nature of search.
Organic search results drive users to individual pages, the ones that best match their search query. Every separate web page is another opportunity to rank well for the search term used or the title of that page.
However, unfortunately most designers and marketers forget this key fact. Instead they focus 90% of their attention on the Home page, with the internal pages being almost an afterthought.
Don’t make this mistake. Give every page equal attention, as they are equally likely to be greeting visitors to your site for the first time.
Every page should be treated as if it’s the homepage
You need to make sure every entrance to your site offers a greeting, is professional and gives relevant, clear content for the page title. First impressions cannot be underestimated.
Out of 10 visitors to your site, nearly four of them will enter through an entrance other than your brilliantly designed Home page. They’ll land on pages specific to their search, whether it’s about a product, service or a question.
Check your website analytics to see what pages visitors most frequently enter your site by, and consider if each page channels the visitors through the site the way that you want them to travel.
Site purpose and call to action
All pages should actively serve your original purpose for building and maintaining the site. They should work together as a team, but also be independently strong to carry your purpose.
Every page should clearly communicate the site’s purpose and steer visitors to the desired call to action for the site. They should be aimed at conversion. If the site is built to sell product, then every page should direct traffic to product pages. If the site is designed to encourage people to call or email for an estimate or quote, then every page should include a phone number or email address.
All the pages( including the Home page), should move the reader to the next page that you want them to view (a product page, subscribe page, service page, or the about/contact page). You must design the content to drive the traffic through the site the way you want them to move.
Essentials for every page
Every internal page should feature:
- Logo and tagline
- Easy navigation, preferably including search of possible
- Call to action (above and below the fold line)
- Clear, compelling and concise content or copy
- Consistent design and colour elements to establish and reinforce your branding
The most important point to take away is that search engines serve up web pages – not websites or blogs as a whole entity – when a search is done.
Every time you add a blog post or rework your website, you create another opportunity for your best prospects to find you.
Make sure you treat every new page as if it’s your Home page – as a new chance to greet every visitor to sit in your comfy chair.
