Not to pick on web designers, but in today’s business world, you need to be thinking about so much more than just design when it comes to building out your website.
Sure, design is still an important element since a website needs to be visually pleasing to its audience and have the functionality and user experience that they are used to, but you simply cannot design a website at the expense of content and SEO.
While there is a growing percentage of web designers who understand how to design strategically, there are still many business owners who have the “make my site pretty” mentality. By not keeping SEO, content, strategy, user experience, website functionality, and design in mind, companies risking losing business opportunities.
The Purpose of Your Website
Before I can talk about the necessary elements of your homepage specifically, I need to address the purpose of a website.
Gone are the days of your websites just being a digital brochure for your company. A website now has many jobs including:
Get found – The website should be optimized for search to help you get found online.
Build trust – Your website is a key element to building trust. Once a person arrives on your website, it needs to validate their challenges. Your website needs to function the way your customers need it to and expect it to.
Educate – Your website should teach people how to recognize what their problems and challenges actually are.
