The
homepage is usually a visitor's first exposure to your site, and possibly
to your company. For some, a homepage might be all you want -- it
can contain your address, telephone number, directions, hours of operation,
and even a photo.
For
most, it's the title page of the website, and should be captivating
enough to draw visitors further into the site. I find most homepages
fall into one of four categories:
Information
-- Impression -- Introduction --
Index
Each of these are discussed below along with examples. Impression
and Introduction pages typically confine their content to a single
screen. Information pages are typically much longer.It should be captivating
enough to draw visitors deeper into your site.
Information.
These sites provide the information itself on the homepage. Examples
include sites that have news headlines on their homepage. An information
page can give the impression of a large business operating behind
the scenes. |
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Impression.
These pages are more focused on creating an impression than they
are on providing information. These pages are common in industries
such as art, advertising or consulting. Flash animations are extreme
forms of impression pages, sometimes requiring exiting the animation
in order to reach the rest of the site. |
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Introduction.
These pages provide the visitor with an understanding of what
the site is about. It might be a paragraph describing their offerings,
or there might be pictures of the different types of products
they sell. |
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Index.
These sites begin with a directory that classifies the information
provided by their site. There could be just one directory (e.g.,
www.staples.com), or there could be a few directories, such as
when www.hp.com lists products along the bottom and markets along
the right margin. |
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