Homepages are kind of like digital welcome signs that greet people when they visit your site. Having a beautiful design isn’t enough—if you want to keep visitors glued to your created website, you need to have a homepage that functions as an uninterrupted environment for them. Here are the basic elements for creating a homepage that draws visitors in deeper, while staying true to best web design practices.
How to build a homepage
01. Keep your layout clean and easy to navigate
Keeping your homepage’s layout clean and clutter-free is essential. Site visitors tend to feel overwhelmed if they’re presented with an excessive amount of info and images. You will come off more organized and professional if your site’s content is well thought-out and tidy.
Do: Choose a layout that is clean and easy to navigate. Make sure that all of your most important content and images are kept above the fold, where your viewers' eyes will most likely see them.
Don’t: Avoid cluttering your homepage with too many images, icons, clip art, banners, never-ending text and so on. No one wants to sort through a messy page. So try to maintain a clean and minimalist website design.
You can also take further inspiration from these homepage design examples.
02. Add high resolution images
A picture is worth a thousand words, right? When it comes to your homepage, this saying rings true. Photos have the ability to let your visitors know what you and your website are all about. If you don’t have access to high caliber photos, you can choose from the Wix Collection of professional-grade images. Simply follow these steps: go to the Wix editor → Add → Image → Change Image → Free From Wix. You can also use this excellent resource for free photos. Strong images can do the job of countless lines of text – use this to your advantage.
Do: Use high-resolution photos that will make your users want to see the other pages of your site. Nothing says unprofessional more than a bad quality pic.
Don’t: There’s no need to add every amazing pic you have at your disposal when still learning the ropes on how to make a website. A few solid images should be more than enough.
03. Ensure your color scheme and background work well together
These simple, yet important elements set the tone for your homepage and will probably be the same throughout all of your site’s pages (for example, if you have a vintage website design, your homepage will reflect that). With that said, don’t you want to make sure that you pick wisely? The Wix editor makes it easy by giving you tons of beautiful backgrounds as well as handy preset color swatches called color palettes. You can click through them to see how they change the look of your site, or you can create your own customized palette. You can even upload one of your own images and set it as background. Looking for more inspiration? Check out these best website design examples.
Do: Go with a color scheme and background that work well together and reinforce your brand (especially when working on corporate websites).
Don’t: Steer clear of adding too many colors and don’t pick a background that will steal the focus from your main images and text.
04. Optimize your homepage buttons
Not every homepage will have or even need buttons, but if you’re going to use them you should use them right. Your buttons, or call to actions (CTAs), are gateways to other pages, websites, promotional items, product galleries, and so much more. If the purpose is to make people take action and click, you’re going to have to make them tempting.
Do: Keep the wording of the CTA as clear and short as possible – do your best to keep it under 4 words.
Don’t: Try not to let your CTA go unseen. If you want people to click through, don’t overlook the importance of placement.
05. Update content frequently
You can’t have a perfect homepage without good solid text. Your first objective should be to ensure that site visitors immediately understand what your site is about. But remember, you’ll be able to go into more detail on the other pages of your website, so there’s no need to write a novel. For example: writing a bio about yourself on your homepage is just repetitive when you have a separate page titled “Bio.” Getting carried away and writing overly descriptive paragraphs is a surefire way to make your users fall asleep.
Do: Keep your text fresh and current. Doing so will let readers know that your website is up to date and a dependable source of information.
Don’t: Do. Not. Over. Do. It. In most cases, nobody is looking to settle down for a few hours to read all the text on your website. Be sure not to lose your visitors’ attention by going into way too much detail or repeating yourself when you just don’t need to.