When you first enter into a website, what do you see?
As I have mentioned before, it can take someone only 0.05 millliseconds to decide whether they want to stay on your page, so you need to make that short time count.
This is why the content of the space ‘above the fold’ is so important. A homepage banner is the best place to start to capture your audience’s attention, so what can you do to achieve this? Here are the 3 key features of a homepage banner that will help to keep your audience on page and taking that next step to find out more!
1. Captivating Imagery
A website is only ever as good as the images contained within it. They say a picture paints a thousand words, and this is extremely true. Imagery, whether this is photographic, videographic or illustrated can get a message across to your audience before they even have a chance to read a single word of text. It can tell your audience about your brand, the feel of your business and your values.
With this in mind, it is key that the first imagery that your clients come across on your website sends the message you want it to. For example, you would possibly end up a little confused to visit a website for a coffee shop only to be greeted with an image of eclectic toiletries. A tad extreme perhaps, but you catch my drift!
So it is important to make sure that the imagery ‘above the fold’ is on point and relevant.
2. A Strong Message
The message you display here will be the next deciding factor as to whether a visitor sticks around a little longer, or clicks that dreaded back button.
Deciding on what your key message is for your service or product is incredibly important. If you have taken the time to understand your own business and devise a clear concise message, this will make it a lot easier for the website visitor to understand this message too.
Keep it short and concise. Bitesize chunks of information work best here, as you want the visitor to consume this message in a short a time possible. I would recommend a main header and a short subtitle. If you need to get a few different messages across, perhaps a sliding banner, or a short video might be best for you, but the key is to keep the visible text in this space to a minimum, whilst maximising its efficiency.
3. A Clear Call To Action
What do you want your visitor to do next? For this you need to understand your sales process.
Take ecommerce for example. For some websites, it works to send the visitor straight to the shop. For others, you may need to take the customer on more of a journey to understand the product on offer before you direct them to the product pages and checkout.
What you need here will depend entirely on your business and what your customers need. It could be a “find out more”, a “see range” or a “contact us”, but the key is to make this the right call to action for your business.
If you can implement these three elements into your landing page, you will increase engagement by showing your visitors easy to consume, relevant information and they will be far more likely to stay on the page and follow your call to action!
If you need any advice on what your homepage banner should look like to increase that engagement, why not get in touch today! We would be delighted to help!
