The Home Page

The Home Page or your main page is probably the first page that a viewer will see when they enter your website. Other than this, this is probably the page that users view most often. It is the page that makes the first impression and by viewing this page, many users will decide to stay or not.

The home page cannot be too complex that the user will look at it and then is confused as to what to do next and where to look for the information they need. At the same time, it needs to be attractive enough that the user will keep their eyes glued to the screen. This may sound very complicated and it probably one of the harder things to do when making a website. There are many rules and there will be a lot mistakes that you will make in making your home page. By collecting experience and learning from your mistakes, you will be able to make a better home page.

Here are somethings that you should consider about your home page:

• Can people load it within the first few seconds?
• Are there unneccessary information?
• Can people locate your links properly?
• Is the page layout clear?
• Are there proper headings and titles?
• Do people get a general idea of what kind of information are on your site?
• Are there pictures/graphics?

Those are some general questions, but if you take time in your site and examine your home page, you will probably be able to find more mistakes and ways of improvements.

So keep in mind that people do like to see graphics, but not a page of graphics that will take a few minutes to load. If you would like people to see graphics or images that big, then provide a thumbnail and link so if they want to see it, they can click on it. An average user should be able to load your home page within 5 seconds maximum. But if your targeted audience will wait, then if you want, then you can add additional images and graphics.

Make sure your home page appeals to the user yet it is informative enough to give the basics or updates to the user. Like the frontpage of a newspaper or magazine, it should look well organized and have the neccessary attractive information that people are looking for.

Many people have a splash page as their first page. It may be good to have a splash page sometimes (to give people options to choose language, flash or non-flash, etc.), but most of the times, it is best if you don't use a splash page. Why? Well, it takes time to load the graphics since most splash pages are just images and it also wastes the user's time by clicking enter to load another page. A user is going to your page to look for specific information or things and not to waste their time clicking around.

The home page should stand out from the rest of your site. Do not make the home page identical to the rest of the website so people can identify where they are. Also, the home page is the most important page in your site so make it special and stand out. Don't make it too flashy but the layout and content should have some differences since it has to cover generals about the entire site and not just a content page.

Before creating your home page, imagine and create a layout of how you want it to look like and where each section or everything is going to go or be placed. For example, where are you going to place the links and picture, etc. Make sure that there is enough room for links and a graphic logo or logo or your site is located on the page too.