6 essential elements you need on your homepage to improve your click through rate

Having a great website homepage is essential for driving the right traffic to your website and getting those right-fit people clicking through to your other pages - including your paid stuff!

Your homepage is the welcome mat for your business’s online presence, and first impressions matter! Especially when you get an average of 3 seconds to convince your new website visitor if they should stay on your website and click on to your other pages.

In this article, I’m sharing the 6 essential things you need to have on your website to improve your chances of your right-fit people clicking through to your other pages.

What is a click through rate?

Before we dive too far into those essential elements, it might be helpful to understand what “click through rate” means.

Your click through rate is simply the number of people who land on your webiste divided by the number of people who click through to a second page.

This is a very helpful metric to know, and track, as it shows how qualified the traffic you’re getting is, how compelling your design and copy are at convincing them to spend more time on your website and how enticing your Calls To Action are at getting people to actually click through to another page.

Now we’ve got that cleared up, here are those 6 essential elements your homepage needs for a great click through rate:

1) A compelling headline & description that identifies what your website is about

First impressions REALLY matter when it comes to websites. People are busy, and if they’ve found your website via search they’re actively looking for something.

So you’ll want to make sure you’re grabbing the right people’s attention with your homepage headline and communicating super clearly what your website is about, who its for & what’s on offer!

Here are some prompts to help you approach writing your headline & description:

• Who is your website for & what do you offer?

• What question might have brought your ideal clients to your website today?

• What would your ideal client REALLY LOVE to hear as they land on your website?

• Can you paint a picture of what your ideal client might find / do / have by sticking around?

2) Clear Calls To Action

If you want to boost your homepage's click through rate, it’s essential that you have super clear and obvious Calls To Action inviting people to actually click through to the next logical pages on your site!

And at the top of your homepage, you’ll want to pick just ONE Call To Action to drive your most eager and interested people to the best next step to get started with your work.

Calls To Action usually look like a big, high-contrast button that links to the next stage in your customer journey - often to learn more about your paid offers. Your Call To Action needs to make sense in the context of what your website visitor has just read, essentially feeling like the answer to what you’ve just talked about.

And don’t be shy about making your Call To Action stand out! In fact, you want this to be the most eye-catching element on your homepage design since this is the main thing you want someone to do on your website.

3) Attractive visuals

Did you know that attractive visuals on your homepage can help capture the attention of your visitors and draw them in? And it’s not just about having “pretty” images. The goal of your visual design is to compliment your copy (and sometimes illustrate what you’re talking about if someone is just skimming the text).

From eye-catching banners, on-brand photography, colorful buttons, and creative graphics there are many ways you can use visual design elements to improve engagement on the homepage. Focus on creating visuals that communicate the value, tone and style of your offers and help make them stand out more effectively.

4) Overview of the main free & paid resources your website offers

Think of your homepage as the index of your website - and an overview of everything your business has to offer.

An effective homepage should have well-placed and organized links to your offers - both free and paid - throughout the page. Be sure to position your main income-earning offers early in your homepage design but don’t burry your free content too far either as you might lose people’s interest if they aren’t ready to buy just yet.

5) Embedded opt-in for your freebie

A great way to boost your click through rate is to share something really enticing for FREE right there on your homepage. You’ll share this free resource in exchange for your new subscriber’s email and once they’re receiving your emails you can encourage them to come back to your website to learn more about your various offers.

An added side effect of including an embedded opt-in form for your free gift on your homepage, besides making it easier for people to join your email list, is that you’re positioning your business as offering helpful support upfront rather than jumping into selling right away. This builds a lot of trust in your website visitor and will likely embolden them to click around your website further after signing up for your free goodie.

BONUS TIP: Why not share some of your best free & paid resources on your Thank You page, so once someone has signed up for your free gift they’ll have an easy opportunity to continue to explore your website!

6) Short introduction to you & your business

For most people buying from small businesses, building a connection to the business owner is a big part of the appeal. We love knowing who we’re buying from and supporting, and knowing a little of the backstory behind the business establishes it as being worthy of our time, attention and trust.

Share a high-level introduction to your business, who you support and why you’re passionate about the work you do. This should be focused more on the connection with your website visitor vs a professional bio, and is a great place to share a link to your About Page to learn more about your business’s story.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, having the right elements and information on your homepage is essential to improving click-through rate and encouraging the right people to explore more of your free & paid resources. If you’re looking to get better results from your website, make sure you’re including these 6 elements on your homepage to make a standout first impression!