You never get a second chance to make the first impression - that’s why your homepage is undoubtedly one of the most important web pages on your website. For any organisation, the homepage is its virtual front door opening to the world. If a new visitor doesn’t like what they see, their very next repulsive reaction shall be to click the 'x’ button and exit.

That’s right, unfortunately, a lot of people still judge a book by its cover.

Hence, if you have a website visitor, who already knows you or knows nothing about you, the best thing you can do to lure & captivate his attention is to nail your homepage messaging. No more than a few seconds would you have, to convince the visitor to stay longer. And, if the main message is not evident enough on the homepage or if it does not appeal, you are bound to lose him the very next second.

So, what makes a website’s main message hit the bull’s eye instead of being vague? Well, it takes more than looks, to work well. That’s when a brilliant homepage scores high in appeal and information.

Come, let’s dive into the pool of secrets on how to compel the users to stay longer on the site.

Brand communication

Post landing on the website if a visitor stays clueless for more than 2 to 3 minutes having no idea on what the company does, then you are sure to lose his interest.

An average adult can read 275 words per minute, which equates to about 825 words in three minutes.

However, a three minute long read time doesn't sound bad, but definitely looks long, and the read time differs from person to person, which needs to be considered too.

Unfortunately, this happens largely in B2B space, where the organisation finds it utmost necessary to sound highly professional & knowledgeable, resulting in heavy jargon and marketing mumbo jumbo.

Your main message should clearly showcase what service(s) or product(s) your company sells. Bull's-eye! to the point, and not vague or generic.

Resonate with the target audience

The homepage communication needs to be narrowly focused - speaking to the right people in their language. The best homepages avoid prolonged corporate blah-blah, eliminating the fluff.

The trick to associative communication is to portray both, your brand’s purpose and its value, focusing the user’s needs. For example, you could say,

‘We rent furnitures on easy EMI options’

The customer will get a clear picture about the services you provide. However, to make the message even more compelling, when the same central idea is framed differently, to benefit the user, you are bound to get more traffic to your website:

Framing rightfully benefits the consumer and helps them understand better, why they need your products or services.

Value proposition

When a visitor arrives on your homepage, it needs to compel them to stick around. And, the best way to do so is to let them know,

‘who you are’, ’what you do’ and ‘what can they do here’.

The homepage is the best place to nail your value proposition, so that the prospects choose to stay on your website and not navigate to your competitors’ - the message must demonstrate product’s or service’s ability to solve their problem or fulfil their desire.

Your main messaging should focus on users who are currently interested in your services, or are likely to become interested in future. If your main message addresses a broad audience, you won't be able to reach out to your target audience and will end up diluting your value proposition.

Action oriented communication

The goal of the homepage is to compel visitors to dig deeper into the website and move them further deeper down the marketing/sales funnel. For the homepage to turn into a sales or lead-generation engine and not be veiled as just a corporate brochure-wear, the communication on the homepage main message needs to be crisp, short and action oriented.

Last, but not the least, the best thing you can do after you have written your main message is to go out and test it. Small surveys, time and again, can help you tweak your message for your actual and potential users.

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