Home Business
How to Make Your Homepage Flow
By Candice Pardue

Believe me, you want your visitors to stay as
long as possible. This is the only way your
site is going to succeed. Your site must be
interesting, persuading, and easy to navigate.

First let me tell you a couple of misconceptions
about how to design websites.

1. Many people assume that because the
internet is so "big" and covers such a vast
amount of areas around the world, their
website has to be everything to everybody.
They design their website for "everybody"
in the world and never have a distinct purpose.
No purpose and no direction results in no
sales! That's a profound statement but so
true.

How many websites have you visited that
had no purpose, no direction, and no real
valuable information that you stayed and
surfed around the site a while?

You click to that site only to find twenty
links that are all non-related to the
site's description nor to each other. A
link to the left takes you to a computer
store online while a link to the right
takes you to a sports website. Five banners
straight down the middle of the homepage
all going in five different directions.
No direction or purpose whatsoever. Even
if that company did offer what you were
looking for, you probably would not
consider that company as an expert or even
trustworthy after one glance at the website,
would you?

2. The second misconception is that selling
on the web is different or easier than
selling offline. I know from experience that
sales is sales is sales. Even if your
business is on the web, you still must take
the same steps to gain a customer's trust as
you do offline. Your product will not sell
itself, just like your website will not
promote itself. You must take the necessary
steps to promote your site as well as give
a persuading presentation once the visitor
arrives.

Now that you know a couple of the most
common misconceptions on the web, you can
move forward with designing your website
with these in mind. Don't worry, if you've
already designed your website for
"everybody", it's not too late to focus in
on your sole purpose. It's far less painful
to design your website with your one purpose
in mind from the beginning -- and less costly.

Below are 3 important steps you can take
while designing your website to insure
navigation ease for your visitors:

1. Place your "appealing headline" below
any banner or logo at the top of the page.
This is the headline that persuades your
visitor to continue reading your homepage
-- to spark their interest in your product
or service. Write your headline to your
target customer.

The visitor should have no doubt about
what kind of website he/she just entered.

If your purpose is to sell books, your
headline should say something about books
or a particular book that's very popular.
This will insure your "targeted" potential
customers that they are at the right site
for what they're searching for. Visitors
who aren't looking for books really aren't
your customers, are they? You're letting
them know up front that they're in the
wrong website.

The reason for placing your headline
below your logo or banner is because
people tend to look at the "picture" first
and then begin reading below the picture.

2. Place a scroll bar or navigation bar
at the right hand or left hand side of
your homepage. A general rule of thumb
is to place your scroll bar on the left
hand side if your website is
information-based and you offer just one
to three products. Place your scroll bar
on the right hand side if your website
is set up like a catalog offering many
different products.

The scroll bar provides your visitor
with options to move around within your
website without crowding the homepage.
Your homepage should be an introduction
to your website or your product or
service, not your entire website. The
information should be intriging to your
"target" visitor and lead the visitor
to the next page or to your desired
response at the bottom of the homepage.

3. Continue your homepage. Write to
your visitor in a way that he/she can't
wait to go to the next page and continue.
But don't stop there -- when your visitor
gets to the bottom, be sure to say "Go
to the Next Page Here..." or "Continue
to Next Page...", something to persuade
your visitor to go the next page. The
... always leaves a sense of continuance
also!

Implement these three methods while
designing your homepage to insure
navigation ability for your visitors.
Remember, your visitors can only turn
into paying customers if you get a
chance to make your presentation.

---
Sign up today to receive free weekly web design tips,
articles, and resources by email. Subscribe to Web
Design Weekly by sending a blank email to:
mailto:subscribe@webmastercourse.com
...or visit the web design site for beginners today...
http://www.webmastercourse.com/