A home page is a composition of different elements. Below, we will see which are the most common and the best practices for using them:
Main image: the value of the first impression
Just below the header with the logo and the main menu, the main image will be a crucial first impression for positioning your business and your brand. A popular option is a slider or carousel with a few rotating images.
The carousel has the advantage of easily displaying several messages or value propositions in a dynamic way, so that the visitor can choose, but it also has the risk of dispersing attention. A fixed image allows you to convey a single, more solid message. It all depends on your priorities.
Another alternative that allows you to convey dynamism is to include a short video instead of a main image.
Navigation menus: the simpler the better
The navigation menu or menus are a key element on the home page of any cayman islands phone number list website. As we mentioned above, the best practice is to design a main navigation menu as short as possible , with the help of drop-down menus.
To guide the visitor, it is not necessary to show a long list of services or categories from the start, but rather to choose the appropriate terms so that they can find them on secondary pages.
Typically, this main menu will be visible on every page of the website, not just the home page. One more reason to keep it simple.
For example, in SendinBlue's header menu we use only four initial terms to guide navigation and we use drop-down menus to help us. If a visitor is interested in our landing page creation wizard, they will find it in the features drop-down menu.
If you're looking for a more specific resource, such as the SendinBlue Shopify integration plugin, you'll find the plugins page in the resources section. Presenting all of our plugins in the main menu would be too overwhelming.
The header menu is the main navigation menu, but not the only one. If the complexity of your content justifies it, other menus that can be included on the home page are the side menus or the footer menus.
They are not as visible as the header and therefore can be somewhat longer without affecting the user experience. If you have an e-commerce website, for example, these menus can include miniature product photos.
Internal search engine
On many websites, in addition to offering optimized navigation menus, it is convenient to ask the visitor directly what they are looking for. The internal search engine allows a search for keywords within the website's content.
Although it is generally recommended, there is no hard and fast rule regarding the suitability of an internal search engine. If the website is simple or the navigation menus are sufficiently optimized for all user profiles, it is not mandatory.
Access to user account and ecommerce features
On websites where the user can create his or her own account, it is important that the access to it is always visible and the optimal location is the top right corner. In the case of online stores, this access is particularly important as it includes the user's shopping cart (their unconfirmed orders).
A good practice, particularly for e-commerce, is to take advantage of this space to include a drop-down menu with all the features of the personal account, as Amazon does:
Social media widgets and testimonials
Giving visibility to social media and/or customer testimonials on the home page is a sign that the company is interested in listening to its customers and prospects.
To link to social networks, sometimes a simple button is enough. Remember that some of the traffic arriving at your website's homepage will probably come from these networks and they don't want to encounter widgets overloaded with content they've already seen.
Customer testimonials add value as long as they have credibility, which can be based on specificity (when they specify what problems the company has solved for them), on the reputation of the clients who sign them or, better yet, on both things at the same time.
Chat for web
A web chat is an optional element on the home page. By including it, a brand makes itself available to communicate with visitors from the very beginning. Therefore, interaction and closeness with users are considerably enhanced.
On the other hand, maintaining a live chat requires resources, even if you set up some automated responses. If you are considering it for your website, you can install Brevo's web chat in no time.