First Impressions are Crucial
What does or will your home page say about you or your company? Chances are, if it's like many Web sites out there, very little. Many companies realise that Web sites are a prime marketing channel for their business, but they forget that other people, including potential customers don't eat, drink, breathe and sleep their products. This means that their Web site front page ends up being a showcase for whatever company project has the focus at the moment.
Some of the more common elements of a company home page are:
Products for sale
News and Press Releases
Events and Announcements
Navigation
Search
What's missing from many home pages is a clear and concise description
of the company. If your customers can't figure out what you're trying to
sell or do for them right away they might just give up and leave
immediately.
What About Existing Customers?
You might be asking, "But our existing customers who already know who we
are and what we do." While that is probably true, your Web site should
be a ready resource for attracting new customers as well as retaining
existing ones. But if the new customers aren't really sure what you
offer, they might leave for a firm that is more clear.
What you should aim for is a balance between providing the tools
returning customers crave with the information that new customers need
to make the decision to go with your company. This can be just a
sentence or two, with links to more if they need or want it. Leaving
this out may satisfy one department's need for one more sentence about
their product, but risks alienating new customers before they've even
gotten to that product.