7 Ways

To Optimize the
Performance of
Your Home Page

By Nick Usborne

Published by:
American Writers & Artists Inc.
245 NE 4th Avenue, Suite 102
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Phone: 561-278-5557
Fax: 561-278-5929
Website: www.awaionline.com

American Writers & Artists Inc., 2012. All rights reserved.

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Conversion Rate Checklist Report

Home Page Optimization

7 Ways

To Optimize the Performance

of Your Home Page
By Nick Usborne

Introduction
Home pages can be tricky, simply because they not only
have their own job to do, but also have to support a group of
key interior pages.
In other words, while your home page has several tasks
it has to achieve in terms of presenting your company or
organization to the public, it also has to serve as an index for
other important areas of your site.
A home page is where you need to present your unique
value proposition, with total clarity.
It is where you have to both excite and reassure your
readers, both at the same time.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

It has to be clear and simple...but also direct readers

forward to the interior pages they are looking for.
In this short guide you will see the checklist I use when
writing home pages... whether a site has a total of ten pages
or a thousand pages.
Nick Usborne
www.NickUsborne.com

American Writers & Artists Inc.

 #1: Is the principal home page headline

clearly communicating your sites underlying

value proposition?

This is job one. When firsttime visitors arrive at your

site, they have a purpose in
mind. They are looking for
something.
The job of your principal
headline is to communicate
quickly and clearly the primary
value proposition of your site.

Let people know

what your site is
about, and why it is
better than all the
competing sites that
offer similar products
or services.

That is to say, you need to let people know what your site
is about, and why it is better than all the competing sites that
offer similar products or services.
This is a tough job at the best of times. But it gets harder
when you burden your headline with extra duties.
So stay focused. Understand what your visitor is looking for.
Communicate your promise and value quickly and clearly.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

Example: Hansens Clothing

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Hansens is one of hundreds, if not thousands of sites which
sells clothes.
However, Hansens does a great job of communication their
value proposition.

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In fact, just within the headline

space they pack in a huge number
of points of difference and interest.
One bonus is the fact that
the owner is a third-generation
owner, and is still active within the
company. This kind of gem can
make a huge difference in making
your audience feel your company is
both different and trustworthy.

Reassess your home page

headline and make sure it
clearly communicates your
unique value proposition
and separates your site
from its competitors.

Is there some unique aspect to

your own company you could use as
a point of differentiation?
TASK #1: Reassess your home page headline
and make sure it clearly communicates your unique
value proposition and separates your site from its
competitors.

#2: Are you using short introductory text

to clarify and expand on the main headline?

Not every value proposition can be communicated

completely in ten words or less.
You may be able to get close. But if you have a business
that offers a number of different product or service categories,
you are better off keeping your headline simple, and then
using some short introductory text to expand on your message
and clarify.
Place this text directly beneath your headline, so there is
a natural flow from one to the other. Dont make your readers
have to search for this clarifying copy.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

In other words, be aware of the eye-path of your readers.

If you want someone to read a block of text immediately after
reading your headline, place it within the same column, with
the same margins, one following directly after the other.
Example:37 Signals

This text beneath the headline helps clarify what the

company offers and how it is different.
In addition, within the first screen, they also name
and describe their four software products.
This home page, which takes up just one screen on your
monitor, is remarkably simple and clean.

American Writers & Artists Inc.

Imagine how they could have built the page, with a large
image of someone working at his or her computer, and then
areas devoted to product descriptions, with additional photos,
plus sections about their company and so on.
Instead, they keep it clean and say just enough about who
they are and what their products achieve.
TASK #2: Take a look at the first blocks of introductory
text on your home page, and make sure that the they
explain the value and contents of your site with crystal
clarity.

#3: Is it easy for visitors to find what

they are looking for?

Unless you have a single product or single service, you are

going to have to help people find the second-level page that
best matches their immediate interest.
If 80% of your visitors end up going to just three or four of
your second level pages first, make links to these pages easy
to find on your home page.
This sounds obvious, but home pages are often cluttered
with too many featured links.
Use your navigation links to provide access to all areas of
your site. But make a feature of the links that best serve the
needs of the majority of your visitors.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

Example: My Wedding Favors

The top money links are given a primary position on

the first screen.
Other second-level links are listed within themed groups, to
make it easier to find what visitors are looking for.
When you have a site with hundreds or even thousands
of products, its important to help people find what they are
looking for.
First, if there are four or five products or categories that
a large percentage of readers visit, give those links special
prominence on the first screen.

American Writers & Artists Inc.

Then, if you have a large number of categories, group them

by product type or theme, so people will be able to scan the
list headings and zero in on their area of interest quickly.
TASK #3: Look carefully at your subheads and links,
and make sure you are making it as simple as possible
for first-time visitors to find what they are looking for.

#4: Are you actively telling people what

to do?

Some web site homepages

offer a variety of options and
links, but do little help the
reader forward.
In other words, the reader is
left on his or her own, to decide
which of the various links to
follow.

Identify your key

second level pages
and then create
prominent links on
the home page that
drive people forward.

Passive links are sometimes appropriate, usually on sites

which are essentially product catalogs. But in most cases this
passive approach will reduce your conversion, simply because
you are failing to create forward momentum.
Forward momentum is critical to conversion.
Identify your key second level pages and then create
prominent links on the home page that drive people forward.
Give these links prominence, and include an active verb as
the first word.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

Example: Google Adsense

Action
Verb
Action
Verb

Action
Verb

Again, this page is very simple. But the use of active verbs
at the beginning of headlines, subheads and directions creates
a sense of movement.
Wherever you look on the page, you are being directed to
do something, to move forward, achieve the next step.
Telling people what to do is the first step in creating
momentum and converting visitors to buyers.

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American Writers & Artists Inc.

TASK #4: If you have one or more second level money

pages, be sure that you use active verbs in your links
to these pages, and give these links prominence on your
home page.

#5: Are you capturing visitors email

addresses?

Most visitors who arrive at your site for the first time will
not purchase your product or service during their first visit.
And most will never return to your site again.
So whenever possible, and if appropriate, encourage
them to sign up for a newsletter, a free download, an email
sequence...or something else.
This can apply to every site that delivers content in
the form of articles or reviews. It applies to every site for
consultants or other service providers. And it can also apply to
many sites that sell products.
When you invite someone to sign up, offer them something
free as a reward. In other words, give them more than you are
asking from them.
This gift could be an ebook, a white paper, a case study, a
guide. The list is endless.
Offer something of real value to your audience and you will
increase the number of new subscribers.
And once you have someone on your list, you will be in a
position to keep in touch with him or her for months and years
to come.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

11

Example: debbieweil.com

This consultant is collecting contact information from

prospective clients and customers.
Whether you are selling products or services, it is often
going to make sense to collect contact information from as
many site visitors as possible.
Email address collection may not always be a priority for
your home page, but it often is.

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American Writers & Artists Inc.

And if you want to collect as many email addresses as

possible, be sure to place your sign-up form in a prominent
position, and offer something free in return for the email
address.
TASK #5: Place sign up forms in a prominent position
on your home page, and offer something of value, for
free, in return for someone sharing their email address.

#6: Are you making your first-time

visitors feel comfortable and confident?

When visitors come to your site for the first time, they will
feel unsure about you unless you are a nationally recognized
brand.
They will need reassurance. They need to know they can
trust you. And they want to know that you really can give them
what they are looking for.
There are numerous ways to build trust, including the use
of third-party seals from organizations like the Better Business
Bureau Online.
But a major factor in building trust is demonstrating that
youre there. In other words, give people plenty of ways in
which they can contact you.
Your home page is rarely a sales page. The selling will take
place on the second or third levels.
So on your homepage, avoid hype. Write simply, clearly and
honestly. Make your page and your text useful and helpful.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

13

Example: MyWeddingFavors, again. But just the

top part.
Third-party seal Third
party endorsement
Live chat
Toll-free
phone
number

Within just the header space, this page takes various

important steps to make a first-time visitor feel at ease.
The visitor may have never been here before, and may
never have heard of the company.
But within a few moments he or she will feel at ease, simply
because the site has been endorsed by outside parties, and
because there is both a toll-free phone number and live chat
available.
It doesnt matter whether or not a visitor actually uses the
phone number or chat function. What is important is that they
are available.
TASK #6: Reduce anxiety to a minimum by using
third party seals and endorsements, and easy ways to
contact your company, high up on the page.

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American Writers & Artists Inc.

 #7: Are you fighting company stakeholders

who insist on complicating the page?

This isnt a problem

for small companies.
But as soon as a
company has more
than one department
or division, the heads
of these departments
will start fighting for
their own block of
real estate on the
companys home page.

Everything on your
home page should be
visitor-centric. Every word
and design element should
work to attract, engage
and hold onto each visitor.

As soon as this is allowed to happen...as soon as you

start carving up the home page in order to find space for the
companys stakeholders...bad things start to happen.
First of all, instead of your home page being visitor-centric,
it becomes company-centric.
Designers and writers will find themselves forced to create
the page in order to please their company, instead of pleasing
their visitors.
And before you know it, you have one of those dead,
corporate blah blah home pages.
If and when you see the first signs of stakeholder
pressure, its time to start fighting.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

15

Everything on your home page should be visitor-centric.

Every word and design element should work to attract, engage
and hold onto each visitor.
Any other approach will have a disastrous effect on your
conversion rates.
Example: Apple

The product is positioned as the hero, not the company.

Apple is a huge corporation, selling computers,
iPods, software and a variety of services. They also have
shareholders, company stories to tell and a whole lot more.

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American Writers & Artists Inc.

Look at every element on your home page

and ask, Does this move the visitor forward
to making a purchase or completing a
registration? If it doesnt, fight hard to have
it removed.

However, they do not burden their home page, or their

visitors, with all these different stories.
Instead, rather than trying to make their company the hero
of the home page, they focus attention on their products. After
all, its the products they are trying to sell.
It takes a great deal of internal discipline to take this
approach. This page could be enormously complex, with
multiple elements fighting for the readers attention.
They have done a good job in keeping it uncluttered and
focused on what most site visitors want to see.
TASK #7: Look at every element on your home page
and ask, Does this move the visitor forward to making
a purchase or completing a registration? If it doesnt,
fight hard to have it removed.

7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of Your Home Page

17

Conclusion
Print out this final page and make sure you give a copy
to everyone within your company or organization who is
responsible for your web site home page.
Following this simple checklist every time a change is
made to your home page can have a dramatic impact on your
conversion rates and revenues.

: Is the principal home page headline clearly

communicating your sites underlying value
proposition?

: Are you using short introductory text to clarify and

expand on the main headline?
: Is it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for?
: Are you actively telling people what to do?
: Are you capturing visitors email addresses?
: Are you making your first-time visitors feel comfortable
and confident?
: Are you fighting company stakeholders who insist on
complicating the page?

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American Writers & Artists Inc.