How to optimise your homepage for better UX

In today’s fast-paced digital age, a user’s attention span is limited and the competition for their attention is fierce. As a result, it’s more important than ever to optimise your website’s homepage for an excellent user experience. Users should be able to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for, understand your value proposition and trust your brand.

Your homepage is the first impression your website makes on users. A well-designed homepage can make a significant impact on user experience (UX) and lead to higher engagement and conversions.

In this blog post, we’ll be sharing best practices for optimising your homepage and creating an exceptional user experience in order to help increase your conversion rate.

Through our extensive user research (and a lot of testing), we’ve discovered some common issues that crop up time and time again. That’s why we’ve gone full-on superhero mode and put together some examples to tackle these issues head-on with some seriously effective solutions. We’re not just here to identify problems – we’re here to save the day with practical solutions to create a homepage that engages and converts users 🦸

Problem: Users are overwhelmed by too much information

When users are bombarded with too much information on the homepage, they may become overwhelmed and leave the site.

Solution: Condense and rewrite your copy

To avoid overwhelming users, keep your homepage clean, simple, and focused on your core message. By using clear headings, subheadings and bullet points, you can break up your content into bite-sized pieces. Include only essential information, your value proposition, unique selling points and primary calls to action.

Problem: Users can’t find the information that they’re looking for

When users can’t easily find what they’re looking for on the homepage, they may get frustrated and leave the site.

Solution: Use clear navigation menus and search bars

Make it easy for users to find what they’re looking for by using clear navigation menus and search bars. Your navigation menu should be easy to find, easy to use and clearly labelled. Use descriptive labels that accurately represent the content on your site and place your search bar in a prominent location on the page.

Problem: Users are confused about what your website is about

If users don’t understand what you are trying to sell, they won’t stick around. If they came to your site looking for a specific thing and think you don’t provide it, you would have lost a potential customer.

Solution: Clearly communicate your value proposition and unique selling points.

A value proposition is a clear statement that describes the benefits and value your product or service provides to your customers. It is important on a homepage because it is the first thing users see when they land on your site, and it can make or break their decision to stay or leave.

Throughout your homepage you should highlight the benefits of your product or service. What makes you stand out against your competitors? How does your product or service fulfil the users’ needs?

If your business sells something with a lot of technical jargon associated with it- it’s best not to use too much of this. If you want to buy something for your friend’s bike for their birthday and you know nothing about bikes, but the website you’re on is full of terms like ‘foot plant’ and ‘crank flip’ – you may feel a bit alienated and annoyed. It’s best to keep it simple and explain any jargon used to avoid any potential confusion.

Problem: Your site lacks a clear user journey

Your site should guide users to the next stage, with the final destination being to convert.

Solution: Ensure your user journey is clear through careful UX design

• Define your target audience and tailor the user journey to meet their needs.
• Prioritise the most important information at the top of the page to help users quickly understand what the page is about and find what they are looking for.
• Use a visual hierarchy such as headings, images and typography to guide users down the page in order to break up the content.
• Using colour and contrast can help draw attention to important elements on the page, such as calls to action. 
• Use whitespace to create a sense of balance and help users focus on the content.
• Test your designs through user testing. Did the users get to the outcome you wanted?

Problem: Your users do not trust your site or your brand

If you are not a well known brand, you need to put the work in to convince users of the worth of your services and the credibility of your brand.

Solution: Include social proof that proves your products and services are genuine 

If you don’t have reviews on your website, it’s kind of a red flag.

If other people have used your products or services and loved it – great! Showcase this to the world. If you have some stats to back up your points, that’s even better. Users are more likely to believe information that has exact figures included rather than vague messaging (like ‘we have lots of positive feedback’ – instead say ‘we have an average of 4.7* on Google’).

In conclusion, optimising your homepage for better user experience is essential for the success of your website. By following these best practices, you can create a homepage that engages users, communicates your message, and guides them towards desired actions. Remember to keep it simple, easy to navigate, and focused on your core message.

Get in touch today if you want your homepage utilised for UX.