Running an Internet Work from Home Business

6 Reasons to Build a Homepage

Having an successful internet work from home business requires a homepage...

...this is one of the most effective parts in building your website. Your homepage functions as the front door of your website.

You should design your homepage to feature the most requested information and/or services and to serve as a top-level directory to access the primary sections of your website.

Why It’s Important

1. The homepage is the main tool for sending your visitors in the right direction.
2. It allows the website to focus on helping visitors find the services and/or information they need or want most.
3. Research has found that more than half of all web users judge websites based on their homepages alone. If your homepage is incompetent, many visitors will immediately be turned off and may never come back to your internet work from home site.
4. Web visitors want fast, competent service. On homepages, they expect to find what they’re looking for without having to scroll for long periods of time.
5. Web users don’t have much time or patience. They don’t want to be distracted by text or graphics that don’t help them find what they want or that increase download time.
6. Even if your website is targeted to specialized audiences, your homepage needs to convey basic information to the general public. You never know who might become a regular to your site.

Getting customers to the information they need right from your homepage helps ensure that you're providing timely, efficient, and useful to information to the public.

How to Do It

• Assess Your Visitor’s Needs: There are many ways to determine how to design and organize your homepage, based on visitor’s needs:
  • Customer satisfaction surveys;
  • Focus groups;
  • Email, phone calls, letters, and other contact with the public;
  • Talking with intended audiences;
  • Trading ideas with other web developers via online forums;
  • Analyzing web reports, including search terms and statistics.

  Read more about assessing your audience's needs.

• Test with Users: Finding some people to do testing can help you organize your homepage.
• Include Most Requested Information: The most popular or requested information should be featured prominently on your homepage’s navigation bar.
• Limit the Use of Photos and Graphics: In general, homepages should not feature photos of the company staff. Photos may be appropriate for the "About Us" or "News" page.
• Be Clear about Your Purpose: Even if your first intended audience of your website is a niche group, your homepage should still provide an easy-to-identify section where the purpose of the website and the value is explained in terms they understand.

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