An Easy, Affordable Home Page Up-Do

Speaking of nurturing your web site…even if you don’t have much (any) budget for adding content right now, or are in the throes of a big redesign, don’t neglect your home page! Just mine what you’ve already got by featuring different content on your home page through links. If you’re a Wily Dog, you’ve stored some tasty bones to dig up for hungry days like these. Time to get scratchin’.

It’s tempting, I know, when you’re all caught up in the next best thing to just wait until the new whiz-bang site is ready, then hope to blow away your visitors. Worse, you might want to stick up “Coming Soon” or “Just you wait, this site’s gonna rock!” posters everywhere. But your visitors don’t care what your editorial calendar looks like. They ALL live in the here and now. Show them something worth their while right now or they’re outta here.

To keep your home page dynamic , you don’t really even have to innovate. If you designed it correctly (see Placemat or Buffet post), you should be able to swap out headlines and links to pull more of the site’s existing pages forward. Pages they might not have seen yet or content that deserves further promotion. Mine your content by linking to deeper pages from the home page with icons, buttons, photos, etc. Do this often…once a quarter doesn’t count. At the very least, pull intriguing lead sentences to the home page with a “more…” link.  

Has your company or product recently been promoted or reviewed on another site or other media? Stick a link on your home page. (A quick way to sniff around for buzz on you: Google “links: [your URL]” and you’ll get results showing where on the web your site has been mentioned or linked to.) Anytime you get a nod, it’s a chance to show your visitors you’re a dynamic force. All it takes is a short headline and a link: “See us in Top New Widgets magazine!” Don’t bury these treats in your “News” section, howl about them up front.

The worse thing you can do is treat your web site like a museum, where everything stays all nice and pretty and untouchable. Yes, you need the standard info in the obvious places, but if you want repeat traffic, make it worth the trip! Wily Dogs don’t have much patience for museums…neither should you.

Tags: home page content, marketing tips, strong home page