IN THIS ISSUE

First impressions are very important for businesses hoping to win new customers. The homepage of your website is generally the first page web surfers will see, and it's the one they'll use to form an initial opinion about your business. Similarly, it's particularly important that businesses with a small web presence optimise their homepage for search engines like Google if they want to be ranked highly. Thankfully, there are a number of simple things you can do to appeal to customers and cater for search engines.

Tick-tock

Web surfers are a fickle bunch. Statistics from internet traffic analysts Google Analytics and StatCounter show that web users are unlikely to spend more than 40 seconds looking at a site if they can't find what they are looking for. Ken McGuire, owner of web design company Event Media, says it's the homepage's job to tell surfers clearly and concisely what your company does and the easiest way to make contact.

"The first thing I want to know about a company is what they do. I don't want to know all about the company but, on hitting the homepage, I would like some kind of brief introduction. I would always encourage people to put their contact details on their homepage. You can have your address or your phone number or your email address."

If the web surfer decides they are interested in your business, the best way to make a sale is to clearly indicate to the customer what they should do next, something Eoin Redmond, owner of web design company Istech Technology Services describes as 'a call to action'.

"When a visitor comes to the homepage of your website you prompt them what to do next, whether it's to request a free quote, download a document or request a call back. If they come to a homepage and if they aren't clear after five or six seconds what they should do they will go somewhere else," he says.

Easy navigation

The homepage also acts as a central location from which web surfers can navigate to the various other pages on your website. A common way to do this is to have a navigation bar across the top of the screen, with links to things like the company history, a contact form or a list of company clients.

"I would limit the amount of links I put in a navigation or menu bar to six or seven key areas and always provide a link back to the homepage. I don't want to go in to the home page and find 30 or 40 links. You want to find the information you are looking for quickly and you want it to be clearly available," says McGuire.

From an aesthetic point of view, two or three good photos can add life to an otherwise bland homepage. However, you should be careful of using too many pictures as these can make your site slow to load, particularly for those accessing via a mobile device. And it's worth considering hiring a professional photographer or, if you're on a budget, asking a friend who is a photo enthusiast.

"We see a lot of websites with really bad photographs; they look like they were taken with cameraphones and it is pretty horrific," says Redmond. "Even if [the employees] have good quality equipment they don't take the right photographs. They will take a photo of their building but the logo or the sign will be obscured."

Calling all search engines

Search engines tend to send surfers to particular pages within a site rather than the homepage, for example, the online store. However, if you have a small site your homepage is still an important entry point for web users.

"You tend to find that the search engines will land people on deep pages rather than homepages. They like to get people where they want to go without having to go through an intermediary page," says Richard Hearne, owner of search engine optimisation (SEO) company Red Cardinal.

Whatever the size of your site, SEO is a key part of how you design your homepage. An informative paragraph or two is essential, as photographs and graphics don't contribute a huge amount to SEO. In addition, the text on your homepage should use suitable keywords that are relevant to your business.

"If you have two plumbers in Kilkenny and they both have websites, the one whose homepage is more Google-friendly is likely to appear higher up in the results," says Redmond.

McGuire adds: "Be as descriptive as you can. Sum up the business in a paragraph and make that your key piece of text. I would include the list of services that I provide."

The title of your pages - that is, the text that appears at the very top of your browser - is one of the best areas you can optimise for search engines.

"You only have to do a search and see what is returned. You will probably find that with any sort of competitive search, nearly all ten results will have the keyword you searched for in the page title," says Hearne.

If you want to be in that top ten it's a good idea to have a homepage title with a few words about what you sell and where you're based, rather than just relying on the business's name. And you have to do all this in around 70 characters, or Google will truncate the title.

"Page titles are really important for search engines like Google," says Redmond. "If you call your homepage 'Home', Google thinks you are selling homes. Name your homepage after your primary keyword or key phrase. For example, if you are selling garden sheds in Kilkenny your final key phrases would be 'Garden Sheds - Kilkenny' and you would call your home page that."

The Irish Times (www.irishtimes.com) is one example of a popular Irish website whose homepage title is reflective of the different services it provides: 'The Irish Times - Irish News, Business News, Sports News & Ireland Weather Online".

"A lot of people will search for the branding - that is why it is important to have it in your title. If you are trying to get found by generic, non-brand-type terms, you are probably better off saying what you do rather than your company name," says Hearne.

Finally, Redmond and McGuire offered some Dos and Don'ts for those who want to create an effective homepage:

Do

1. Consider hiring an outside web developer to develop a homepage for you. Redmond estimates that web developers have reduced their prices by up to 50 percent due to the recession.
2. Provide a link to pictures of your staff. This helps customers feel like they are dealing with a person rather than a computer.
3. Make sure your homepage reflects company branding and is consistent with the other pages on your site.

Don't

1. Have a welcome page prior to the homepage, e.g. 'To enter our site click here'. This is an antiquated practice that drives web surfers away.
2. Use lots of Flash animations. Web users may be accessing your homepage on a mobile device which may not be able to load these. Plus they can be annoying.
3. Use loud or garish colour schemes such as red text on a dark background.