We all are familiar with the age-old idiom “don’t judge a book by its cover” and the implications behind it. However, if you’re a business trying to draw in customers via your website, your homepage just might be your most important marketing tool. Your homepage should be neat, organized, user-friendly and intriguing enough for the visitor to venture further into your website. Continue reading for Orange County website design strategies that will increase the success of your homepage.

Don’t Clutter

Placing too much information and too many images on your homepage is an eyesore for your audience and may even deter them from your site completely. A homepage should invite a potential customer in, not scare them away with information overload. Summarize what your business offers in a clear, concise manner and incorporate a handful of images. If you wish to showcase many images on your homepage, try developing a slideshow where each image is enlarged for a period of seconds – this way you are engaging your audience for a longer period of time without asking them to view many images at once. Try to minimize the necessity of scrolling on your homepage; the more scrolling required, the more information you have provided and the more likely your potential customer is to become disinterested. Provide a sidebar with links to other areas of your website, such as a full ‘about’ section, contact information, pricing and so on.

Choose the Right Font and Color Scheme

The typography of your website should reflect your company’s services. For example, a real estate firm is best emulated with simple, contemporary fonts like Century, not playful fonts like Comic Sans. Limit the number of fonts used on your homepage to two or three: more may make your reader tired or confused. If you are using more than one font, there should be a pattern in order to better organize information and direct your readers’ eyes. Place your headings and links in one font and your copy or paragraphed information in a separate font. Lastly, choose a color scheme that is easy on the eye. You wouldn’t paint the exterior of your home bright orange with lime green shutters, would you? Your homepage background and font colors should complement each other and provide fluidity to your site.

Mobile Friendly is Key

Business has continued to shift toward mobile and it’s not stopping anytime soon. In fact, it’s now the norm. You need to be sure that your website is mobile friendly because if it’s hard for a user to navigate your site or can’t find what they are looking for, they are likely to leave and find it somewhere else. This, in turn, has major impacts on your success because that user might’ve been a customer, and now they’re looking elsewhere.

Update, Update, Update!

One of the most frustrating things about visiting business homepages is finding outdated information and old design techniques – if you don’t take the time to update your homepage, then why should your visitors be interested in what you have to say? Keep things current by providing fresh photographs and information. A great way to ground your homepage in the present is by embedding live feeds or links to your company’s social media accounts. This shows that your Orange County web development strategies are up-to-date and may even intrigue customers into moving beyond the homepage.

Brandastic is an Orange County-based digital marketing and advertising agency servicing areas including Irvine, Costa Mesa, and Newport Beach. We specialize in helping e-commerce businesses to grow their online sales and revenue. Contact us today to see how we can help you.