To the uninitiated, the homepage is just an entry point. The ‘magic happens’ on your service or product pages.

For those in the know, the homepage is a conversion machine. A well-designed homepage builds an instant connection, invites exploration and guides users toward the solutions they’re looking for. 

Ready to transform your homepage?

Check out the following b2b homepage best practices to transform yours from a conversion sink to a conversion machine.

First impressions matter: Establishing brand authority and trust

We’ve all heard the statistics about first-time meetings and how we’re prone to make snap judgements about a person within seconds of laying eyes on them. As it turns out, we’re pretty judge-y when it comes to websites, too.

If a homepage page is:

  • Slow to load
  • Outdated or unappealing
  • Unresponsive
  • Hard to navigate

People notice. People judge.

How long do you have to make a solid first impression? According to one study, it’s around 50 milliseconds. If a potential lead has a bad experience, they’re 88% less likely to return to your website, let alone convert.

To make a first impression that builds brand authority, trust and credibility, you need the following essential elements in place on your home page:

Begin with a clear value proposition

You need to distil your offer into a concise, well-crafted value proposition. This should be the first thing visitors see when landing on your homepage.

Begin with a clear value proposition

Take our work with Optivia, for example. The value proposition above tells visitors exactly what Optivia has to offer. Remember, they will make a judgement in milliseconds. Nailing your value proposition and positioning it first is crucial to letting them know they’re in the right place.

Strong visual hierarchy

It isn’t enough to have a nice-looking design and effective copy. These elements need to be arranged in order of importance, a process we call visual hierarchy.

strong-visual-hierarchy

Take this homepage example from the website we designed for MRA Automation.

Visitors will notice these elements in the following order:

  1. The image on the left 
  2. The highlighted word “Axo33” (the offering we wanted to draw users’ attention to)
  3. The heading introducing the offer
  4. The paragraph below the heading that explains the offer
  5. The CTA button that invites the viewer to find out more

These elements are deliberately arranged to guide the viewer toward MRA’s Axo33 smart products to engagement, interest, and, finally, conversion.

Engaging call to actions

Targeted CTAs are far more likely to lead to conversions than bland, generic ones. It’s time to get creative!

engaging-ctas

Take the above example.

“Speak to our experts” goes beyond the generic “Get in Touch”.

“Get in Touch”, with who? About what?

“Speak to our experts” is immediate and direct. The visitor doesn’t envision being passed around before getting through to who they want to speak to. Clicking on the “Speak to our experts” button leads to solutions. One that says “Get in Touch” is vague and ambiguous.

Intuitive navigation

Digital overwhelm is real, and people are tired of it. They’re tired of traipsing through pages and pages of content to find what they’re looking for. If your website makes visitors work to find what they’re after, 38% will immediately stop engaging with your site. Simple, clean, intuitive navigation keeps visitors engaged and boosts conversion rates. Be sure to follow menu design best practices, such as:

  • Prioritise menu items for the user journey. Place your most important menu items in order of strategic importance
  • Keep drop-down menu items short. Use the principle above for these, too.
  • Avoid multi-tiered menus if possible. If unavoidable, place your most important menu items on the top tier and make them more visually prominent.
  • Take care in naming your pages. It needs to be clear to both users and sitecrawlers what each page is about.

Links to thought leadership content

If you’ve followed the above steps, you’ll have established trust and authority. Visitors are ready to take the time to learn more. This is why you need to dedicate a section of your homepage to displaying your best thought leadership content.

This could be your latest whitepapers, blog posts, podcasts or videos. You want long-form content that establishes your expertise. Users will take the time to engage with the content to deepen their relationship with your brand.

Social proof

97% of people say that positive testimonials influence their perceptions. Social proof is the most powerful driver of conversions and an essential tool in your toolbelt.

Your homepage isn’t complete without including customer testimonials.

Here are some tips:

  • Create a wide range of testimonials to increase your chances of making the testimonials relatable.
  • Interview clients to get before-and-after testimonials that demonstrate exactly how you helped them.
  • Put a face to the name to add credibility and a personal touch.
  • If possible, include video testimonials. Research consistently shows that video is a powerful tool for driving conversions.

The importance of data-driven design

Lastly, all of the steps above must be informed by data. Given the dramatic advancements in web analytics, crafting a homepage that converts shouldn’t involve guesswork. Here’s what you can do:

Continuous testing

Real-time analytics have made it easier for marketers to measure and respond to trends as they unfold. Use A/B testing, session recordings and website data to measure your homepage performance and make adjustments based on what you learn.

Gathering and implementing user feedback

If you want to know what your leads are looking for, sometimes, the easiest way is to ask them. Provide quick UX questionnaires or surveys so users can express their opinions. This is useful, qualitative data that you can use to perfect your homepage design.

Analytics and peformance tracking

By leveraging Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you can drill down into what works with precision.

Here are the key GA4 metrics to keep an eye on:

  • Engagement rate: The percentage of sessions that last at least 10 seconds, have at least one conversion and have at least two page views.
  • Average engagement time: The amount of time a user stays on your website.
  • Bounce rate: The percentage of sessions on a given page in which there were no interactions with that page.
  • Sessions Per User: The average number of sessions per unique user. This is a good proxy for user interest because it tells you how often visitors are returning.
  • Conversions: The number of desired actions visitors complete based on your goals.

These will give you a good understanding of how your homepage performs and what adjustments need to be made. Many of these metrics are also major SEO ranking factors, so they are especially important to monitor.

B2b homepage best practices that drive results

Homepage design can make or break your site’s success. An expertly designed homepage that is easy to navigate, has great copy with snappy CTAs and powerful value propositions, uses strong visual hierarchy and leverages data to make adjustments can make all the difference.

Brand chemistry are experts in b2b website design and development. Our tried-and-tested approach will ensure your website drives more qualified traffic and improve your site conversion rates.

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