Understand what your visitors are looking for
We may pay lip service to being “visitor-centric,” but all too often our homepages primarily serve the needs of the organization, or even our own egos.
We carve up the real estate of the page to represent the different stakeholders in the company. Or we thrust our own views on design upon the visitor. Internal politics and ego are just two of the things that make it even harder for a first-time visitor to figure out how to find what she’s looking for.
And to write a homepage that really and truly is there to help the visitor above all else, we first have to understand the needs of the visitor.
At this point too many people just throw up their arms and give up. “We have so many different kinds of people looking for so many different products and services, we can’t possibly write our homepage for the visitor.”
Nice excuse, but no reward.
Dell.com does it. Dell has what is probably to most visitor-centric site of all the computer manufacturers. For years now they have built a homepage that holds back on saying, “Look at us, we’re great.” Instead they devote a significant part of the page to an area where visitor can self-select.
Dell.com does it. Dell has what is probably to most visitor-centric site of all the computer manufacturers. For years now they have built a homepage that holds back on saying, “Look at us, we’re great.” Instead they devote a significant part of the page to an area where visitor can self-select.
If they can do it, why can’t the rest of us? Why can’t we design and write homepages that are primarily created with a view to helping each visitor find what he or she wants as quickly as possible?