You know when you get an ice-cream, covered in topping? Imagine that the topping is horrible – really nasty, think garlic flavour or something equally unwelcome on your summer’s day treat. Do you eat the rest of the ice-cream? Of course not!
Your Homepage is just like that topping (bear with me). The topping is what you see and eat first and if you don’t like it you won’t eat the rest, no matter how good it is. The same is true for your homepage.
Have you ever been on a website and were like OMG she’s talking about me….she TOTALLY gets me and my problems…and it’s EXACTLY what I need right now. You feel like they’re not talking to a larger audience but JUST you.
That’s what a good homepage should do for you!
You have 7 seconds or less to convince them that you are the answers to their prayers. So you better make them count!
It all goes back to the old reliable marketing principle of AIDA. (If you don’t know it check it out here)
Basically what you want to do is grab their:
Attention then spike their
Interest followed by fueling their
Desire so that they are absolutely dying to take
Action.
Kind of logical if you think about it….
I often see people struggle with translating that into actual content through..So here are some questions that might help you focus and map it out.
Grab their attention:
The easiest way to do this is by using imagery and a strong headline that addresses their problems and summarizes what it is they’ll be getting on the page. If you’re the face of the brand it’s a great idea to include an image of yourself as people will get to know and connect with you already
Spike their interest:
People are weird creatures…they don’t want to be presented with the end result but usually identify better with their problems..
Present them with their problems…Asking questions or statements they can identify with is always a good thing. Here are some examples of my own site
You are brilliant in what you’re doing and have great visions but are struggling to bring them to life
You are overwhelmed by all the hats you have to wear as an entrepreneur?
You want to be empowered to all things social media related (even if eventually you choose not to!)
You pull out your hair and throw a tantrum whenever you have to think about websites or any other tech systems
Fuel their desire:
Now that they identified themselves it’s time to show them how you can solve their problems. It’s all about making them see how your products/services will solve EXACTLY those problems you’ve identified….not only that though but also why YOU are the best person for the job…So here are the questions you need to answer for that section:
How exactly are you going to help them solve their problems? Who are you what makes you unique? AKA what’s your unique selling point?
This section is also about building trust with your audience…so slipping in some testimonials or publications you’ve been featured in will help build trust!
Hold their hand to take action
A lot people stop there and lose the people. You really need to hold their hand and tell them what to do.
Do you want them to book in for a discovery call, book in to one of your classes or check out your services in more detail or download your freebie?
Not too bad right? Once you nail that you will draw people in. Now we’ve only talked about content today and not actually the design features of a homepage but that’s a whole different topic which I’m sure I’ll cover at a later stage.
