Home Page Design Hints And Tips
http://www.iwebdevs.net/articles/882/1/Home-Page-Design-Hints-And-Tips/Page1.html
Jane Dawson
eSources is the Internet's largest database of verified wholesalers, dropshippers, wholesale distributors, importers and manufacturers from the UK and worldwide. In addition to being a wholesale trade resource, the site helps startups and experienced traders in the development and growth of their online and brick and mortar retail businesses. By Jane Dawson
Published on 12/4/2009
In this article we discuss some key tips to improve your website's home page design and decrase bounce rates.
The more people shop on the Internet, the more we learn about how people read websites and which websites are the most effective. Here are some hints about website design from industry watchers.
Home Page Layout
Industry watchers suggest that a banded, three column format is the most effective layout for ecommerce websites.
Horizontal Bar: Housekeeping
Left Column: navigation
Center: content or product information
Right Column: Call to action items
Horizontal Bar
The horizontal bar across the top is a good place to place About Us, Contact, Help Me, Account related links and so on.
Left Hand Column
In general, navigation goes down the left hand side of the page. There are three different kinds of links:
- Informational
- Product pages.
- Housekeeping (home, shopping cart)
All left hand column text needs to be left aligned, not centered or right aligned. The categories should be visually separate. All links should be grouped in sets of 3 to 5, no more.
The search box can go in this column or above on the horizontal bar.
Middle Area
The content area of the homepage should primarily be used to feature products and send readers deeper into the site. You can briefly describe the company and its purpose but focus on products or product lines. Otherwise, the reader may not realize that it is an ecommerce site. For each product, include pictures, a brief description, and a link to the product page.
Right hand column
Place icons for view cart and check out in the right hand column. You can also use the right hand column for other call to action items like sign up for newsletter. These buttons should use easy to understand icons and should be displayed in contrasting, bold colors.
Features to avoid on your homepage
Here are some do nots for your home page:
- Do not use clocks unless there is some special reason to do so.
- Do not use timers: it just reminds people of how much time they are spending and that is not usually a good thing.
- Browser logos: Home page real estate is too valuable to waste on this imagery.
- Messages such as best viewed at 1280x1024 with 16.7 million colors. This information is not helpful to the average visitor who will be unwilling to reset their machine to view your website and probably does not know how, anyway.
- Web counters: Those are for the owner use. You can be inadvertently advertising that you do not get that many visitors at your site.
- Information that has to be scrolled for too long people just would not do it. Make sure that your homepage has just enough info to drive people deeper into the site.
- Sound that turns on as you enter the home page. It can be very disconcerting to click on a URL and as the page is opening a disembodied voice begins to speak. Plus, for those visitors who are already streaming music as they surf, you will disrupt their own choices. It is reasonable to provide the option for a visitor to click on an icon and hear something, however.
Follow these hints to reduce your bounce rate and encourage conversions.
Home Page Layout
Industry watchers suggest that a banded, three column format is the most effective layout for ecommerce websites.
Horizontal Bar: Housekeeping
Left Column: navigation
Center: content or product information
Right Column: Call to action items
Horizontal Bar
The horizontal bar across the top is a good place to place About Us, Contact, Help Me, Account related links and so on.
Left Hand Column
In general, navigation goes down the left hand side of the page. There are three different kinds of links:
- Informational
- Product pages.
- Housekeeping (home, shopping cart)
All left hand column text needs to be left aligned, not centered or right aligned. The categories should be visually separate. All links should be grouped in sets of 3 to 5, no more.
The search box can go in this column or above on the horizontal bar.
Middle Area
The content area of the homepage should primarily be used to feature products and send readers deeper into the site. You can briefly describe the company and its purpose but focus on products or product lines. Otherwise, the reader may not realize that it is an ecommerce site. For each product, include pictures, a brief description, and a link to the product page.
Right hand column
Place icons for view cart and check out in the right hand column. You can also use the right hand column for other call to action items like sign up for newsletter. These buttons should use easy to understand icons and should be displayed in contrasting, bold colors.
Features to avoid on your homepage
Here are some do nots for your home page:
- Do not use clocks unless there is some special reason to do so.
- Do not use timers: it just reminds people of how much time they are spending and that is not usually a good thing.
- Browser logos: Home page real estate is too valuable to waste on this imagery.
- Messages such as best viewed at 1280x1024 with 16.7 million colors. This information is not helpful to the average visitor who will be unwilling to reset their machine to view your website and probably does not know how, anyway.
- Web counters: Those are for the owner use. You can be inadvertently advertising that you do not get that many visitors at your site.
- Information that has to be scrolled for too long people just would not do it. Make sure that your homepage has just enough info to drive people deeper into the site.
- Sound that turns on as you enter the home page. It can be very disconcerting to click on a URL and as the page is opening a disembodied voice begins to speak. Plus, for those visitors who are already streaming music as they surf, you will disrupt their own choices. It is reasonable to provide the option for a visitor to click on an icon and hear something, however.
Follow these hints to reduce your bounce rate and encourage conversions.