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What to do with that stale home page...Think fall! [REPOST]

By Denman Wall posted 09-10-2014 11:06 AM

  
Ah, fall! My favorite season...Why? Because the things we are familiar with take on new characteristics...the clothing we put away for the spring and summer makes its way out again...and we get to put up some new decorations on our homes. 

I also like it because it is not winter. In other words, you get the nice, cool days, but there is not a deep commitment to wearing your parka or to hunker-down in your heated living room.

But what does a change over to this fair season have to do with renovating a stale home page? Well, plenty if you ask me. Sometimes, organizations just need a few subtle changes to certain key pages (A new content section here, a remodeling of navigation there, or some new colors to brighten up the old) instead of a complete overhaul.

Even the most basic of changes can give your site the boost it needs. For example, look at your home page. Is it text heavy? Does it rely on the visitor to do a lot of reading? Are the fonts too small for your target audience? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, try making some visual adjustments. 

Here are some quick suggestions:

Think Like Your Customer/Member
All too often, organizations think like themselves when they should be thinking like their customers/members. Instead of saying "What do we want on the home page?", the question really should be "What do our customers/members want on the home page?" 

Well, there are many methods to determine this, including looking at your web analytics data, surveys, focus groups and industry buzz. Spend an hour per method and see what you come up with.

Create "Portlets"
Now, look at your home page's content. Does it speak to those customers/members? If so, break up those long, windy passages into into smaller, more digestible sections containing maybe one paragraph per part. 

Now, place a "hero" image above or to the side of that paragraph. A "hero" image conveys what that paragraph is about...all without the user having to read any text. You know, a picture is worth a thousand words... 

Add a catchy headline - one that conveys action or audience..."Make a Difference", "Information for Parents", etc. 

Finally, give those portlets some style...maybe a rounded-corner box around them, some shading or something else. Sketch it out on a napkin and see what you come up with...

Let Customers Know What Others Have Said
Now that you have put your customer's/member's needs first by looking at data and providing portlets to key information, convince them to become more involved by donating, joining or volunteering. 

The best way to do so is to give them evidence of why doing so will be beneficial to them. 

And that evidence is obtained from others just like them having great experiences with your organization. Which means posting a testimonial right there in prime real estate on your home page. Make it big! Give it some importance...

Look at Colors and Font Usage
Are your colors all over the color wheel? Be sure that your color selections are balanced and have contrast. Pick a main color, a secondary color, an accent color and a background color. Anything more is too much.

Be sure to limit your font's faces as too many are distracting. Pick a different size, color and face for your headlines, sub-headlines and copy.

And don't forget to think about your audience demographics first! Are they going to have trouble reading that small, 12 pixel Times New Roman font? Or do they need 16 pixel Verdana?

So, there you have it, just a few quick ideas to freshen up a stale home page. There are many, many more techniques and methods to employ, but those are good starts! Let me know what you do to freshen up your site in the discussion below.

[REPOSTED FROM SEPTEMBER 2013]




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