In most cases, the home page is the most important page on a website. The majority of website visitors will initially land on the home page and within a few seconds, they’ll make a subconscious decision as to whether to stay on the site or leave.
If your home page is outdated or not performing well, your entire site will suffer. If you can only afford to do 1 update to your site, a home page redesign is probably the best bang for your buck.
We’ve worked with many clients on a home page redesign, which typically includes the header & footer of the site, and these updates can completely transform the entire site without having to do an entire redesign.
5 Reasons To Do a Home Page Redesign
1. You don’t have the time or money to invest in a full redesign
The days of letting your website sit for years in between redesigns are over. Your potential clients will most likely visit your website before contacting you and that will be their first impression of your business. That means your home page is creating that first impression. Improving your home page is a great way to improve your business’ online presence, if you aren’t ready for a full redesign.
2. Your website has a high bounce rate
Your website’s bounce rate is an important metric to check every month. In Google Analytics, you can see a report on the bounce rate for each page. Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who immediately left the site after only viewing 1 page, which is typically the home page. If you are seeing a high bounce rate, improving your home page is the best place to start.
3. There are mobile issues with your home page & navigation
Even if your website is mobile responsive, there may be a number of improvements that can be done to improve the experience on mobile. We like to design a website from a mobile-first perspective. This means we conceptualize how the content & design will be viewed not only on a desktop but also on mobile and tablet devices.
Cleaning up the design & navigation of the home page can really boost engagement on all devices because visitors have very low tolerance for dense content and confusing navigation, especially on smaller devices.
4. Your home page has outdated design elements
Years ago, automatic slide shows were all the craze on websites because the idea was that you could share a lot of information and add some interaction with slides. Unfortunately, research now shows that very, very few visitors ever see past the first slide. Slide shows are not recommended for web accessibility and create a poor user experience because the slide can rotate before a visitor is done reading the text.
Consider changing your slide show to a high-quality hero video on your home page. A web designer can help you select a video that captures your branding, draws the visitor in and doesn’t distract with too much movement.
5. You’ve added a new service/product
Think of the layout of your home page as another way to navigate to the top pages of your site. Some visitors will use the top navigation menu to navigate the site. Other visitors tend to scroll and click to the main pages from the home page.
We always recommend having a section or panel that focuses on your services/products with a link to your service page. With a home page redesign, you can add new panel that highlights a new service.
If a full website redesign isn’t in the plan for this year or early next year, consider investing in a home page redesign to transform your site & improve engagement.
