This is the second in a series of posts from Chris Rackley on better home page design.
I’ll never forget last spring. My wife and I were shopping for our first home. We’d lived in an apartment for nearly four years, and were finally going to get a house. We had, as most people do, a fairly tight budget — so the pickin’s were slim. Our realtor was a former roommate and long-time friend of mine, and so I was asking him a lot of questions about not just home-buying, but home-selling. I won’t forget some of the principles he taught me (I think I’ll need them someday!). But one that really stands out is this: The #1 thing that sells a home is curb appeal.
Wow! The exact same principle is true of your website.
The average visitor to your site is going to spend less than 30 seconds on it. That’s what stats show. In reality, though — a good chunk of people spend far less than that — maybe 10 seconds … maybe. The point is this, you don’t have a lot of time to impress them, and first impressions are key. When you drive through a neighborhood, you always see the house that stands out above the rest. It just looks better. Many times, what you’re seeing is not really the house, but the whole property. The owners have created a great, alluring environment. It’s this extra care that ought to be taken with the design of a home page.
Think about it: If someone is searching for local electricians, they are simply going to “glance” at most of the sites until they see a home page that stands out. That’s proper curb appeal. So the question is: What makes great curb appeal? Well, how much time do you have to read? Tell you what — we’ll keep it simple with just a few things:
1) Fresh, but simple. My favorite tree is the willow tree. Where I grew up in Virginia, we had a willow tree in our backyard, and I loved to go outside and just sit under it, hiding from the world. If I saw a willow tree in the front yard of a home, it would grab my attention; but if I saw ten willow trees … not so much. Your home page doesn’t need to be over-elaborate. For every one person you turn on for having some kind of over-the-top flash sequence (or whatever), you’ll turn several away. They’re not interested in how cool you can look, they’re interested in what you can give them. It has to look good, it has to look appealing, but it has to stay simple.
2) It needs to be inviting. I tell you what — to understand where I’m coming from on this, do a search on electricians in your area. Take the top-ten companies (don’t include the directories) and count how many of those home pages actually make you feel “welcome,” make you want to look inside a bit more. You’ll know what I mean now. The meat of your site isn’t on your home page — or at least it shouldn’t be. The #1 thing that sells a home may be curb appeal, but what really determines the value is kitchens and bathrooms. You want people to go into your site and see all you have to offer them. The home page needs to offer quick and easy access to where you want them to go. They need to feel compelled to step inside and look around.
3) Stand out from the rest. After I moved into my neighborhood, I noticed everyone had one tree planted in the front yard: The same type at just about the same spot. That’s definitely not how you want your web site to be. You’re unique. Your business is unique. Your web site needs to reflect that uniqueness. Your site needs to stand out from the other sites in your “suburb.” So what do you do? Take the challenge to find that unique aspect of your company to showcase on the web. If you’re having trouble with this you could find a good consultant for your brand — before you go to have a website rebuilt. And be prepared to invest. There are a lot of people who claim they know how to create a brand for you and how to market you, but only a select few really know how to execute.
My wife and I knew the moment we drove up to our home that we had found “the one.” Barring anything gone awry inside the house, we were sure the instant we saw it. That’s the power of curb appeal. Your home page is your curb appeal. Is it fresh as well as simple, inviting, and unique? Use this principle when rethinking your home page!
