Your home page is the big, shining front door to your online business. It’s the ‘official’ entrance that people come to.
If your home page is lack-lustre, confusing or too crowded, your clients will wander off and find someone else’s website instead.
But if your home page is clear, tells them what to do and is easy to navigate BOOM. You’ve got the conversation started, they’re scrolling and reading and connecting with you.
Here are 5 essential elements of a high-converting home page. And by ‘high converting I mean it …
- Is clear
- Connects
- Converts
1. Passes the Grunt Test
Donald Miller, author of Building a StoryBrand, and Chief at Business Made Simple University talks about your website passing the ‘Grunt Test’. Grunt, as in “Could a caveman understand?” As the Queen of Clear, I love the Grunt Test.
Here are the three questions that Donald Miller encourages you to use as you Grunt Test your website.
Within 5 seconds on your website, preferably just by looking at your header section, can you tell
- What you offer?
- How will it make my life better?
- What do I need to do to buy?
2. Single call to action
One mistake that’s made on almost every website I review is that each button calls someone to take a different action.
Dr J.J. Peterson, who wrote Marketing Made Simple with Donald Miller and has been co-host of the Building a Storybrand (now Business Made Simple) podcast since the beginning, reminds us that “Good marketing is an exercise in memorization.”
One call to action means that by the time your visitor has got down to the bottom of your home page (and believe me, if you nail these 5 points, they will!) they’ll know exactly what you want them to do!
3. Speaks to the transformation
So many times I go onto a website, especially one in the wellness-space and I’m hit with a list of negativity! You know what I mean …
- Are you feeling bloated?
- You’ve tried every diet and none of them work
- All the exercises cause pain and despair
- You’re scared you’ll never run again
ARGH! Put away all the negativity.
This blog post on how to talk positively about pain points may help you.
Identify the transformation that you help your tribe achieve. Do you help them transform from feeling like a frumpy housewife to being a confident woman in business?
Tell them.
Right under your home page header area!
4. Tells them the plan
If you give someone a plan, they’ll follow it. Make it a 1,2,3 steps to follow if you have to.
Koula Callahan, the third member of the Marketing Made Simple team, says this
“Your customers are constantly scanning their environment for things that will help them – and it’s your job as the guide to lead them out of their problem.”
If you tell them what to do, they’ll do it. Make it super clear.
- Book a free call
- We’ll talk about your goals and how I can help you achieve them
- You start your journey to success
Followed quickly by the call to action button!
5. Gives an opt-in to join your email list
Okay. So some people aren’t quite ready to book a call, buy your products or services … just yet.
Let’s not let them get away. You’ve got a heap of value you can share with them, regardless of where they are on their journey.
Give them an opportunity to get to know you more, share some value with them and give them a quick win.
This is an opt-in, lead magnet or lead generator. Typically it can be a free download, pdf, audio recording, checklist, webinar, video … The list is endless.
Pro tip: Don’t use a pop up. Instead put a section at the bottom of each of your main pages which contains the right information.
What next?
Make some time this week to go through your home page. See how well you score with these top 5 elements of a high-converting home page.
Need anything fixed?