When you are throwing a party at your home, the first few moments your guests experience as they open your front door are critical. You’ve sent guests special invitations because you specifically want THOSE folks there. So naturally, when a guest opens your door, you want them to feel drawn in by faces they know, music they like, and food that smells good — giving them lots of reasons to walk in, feel like they belong, and want to stay until the bitter end, right?
Think of your home page as the front door your guests are opening to your firm’s party. Those first few moments determine whether your guests are drawn in enough to stay, or get bored and leave. As important as the homepage is, many companies struggle to focus on their GUESTS. They instead ramble on about themselves, the HOST. There’s a time for that, but not when your guests first open the door.
The copy on your home page should be written primarily about your guests, not your company, and should do five key things:
- Directly state a guest’s pain point: Headline could appear as a brief question, or a statistic, or a metaphor your prospect can relate to. Make sure this pain point is something your company can fix. Subhead should elaborate on the effects that pain can cause, and state that you can address it. But DO NOT go on and on about how, yet.
Goal: Your guest is intrigued by seeing someone or something that piques their interest. They step inside.
- Paint a picture of what your guest is faced with/is going through: Your guests need to know you know THEM, what they are going through, and why they came to your site in the first place. Describe adversities, threats, issues and concerns and be as specific as possible.
Goal: They are nodding their heads and saying “Yep, that’s me. They get it.” Guest continues inside.
- Explain your value proposition AND show proof: This is where you describe how your firm is uniquely able to meet their needs and take their pain away. Focus on what makes YOUR firm the best choice for your target audience. Use plain English to describe the specific benefits customers will receive from what you deliver. It’s important to show the proof you have to back it up — why they should believe you. Add customer satisfaction stats, testimonials, google reviews, awards, certifications, etc.
Goal: Guest is intrigued, reassured, perhaps impressed by the proof. They continue on, deeper into the site.
- Include several calls to action: Ensure calls to action are prominent on your home page. Providing several, including email, phone number, special offers, white paper download, video links and event registrations – gives the guest a wide scope of ways to show interest, so you can follow up to convert.
Goal: Guest converts to a warm lead by requesting to learn more.
If your guests are welcomed by these elements when they open your homepage door, they will want to stick around the party longer, and maybe even ask for more of whatever you are serving up.
This post is courtesy of MMC Account Manager Jeni Stephens.