Since the first page is your storefront window, it must come across as both pleasing and peak the interest of the viewer enough to want to enter your virtual store to see what you have to offer.
Many people make the mistake of creating a flashy website that doesn't contain enough information to be attractive to both the viewers and get a good rating on search engines that look primarily for content. A cluttered site is likely to confuse the reader enough to leave, so it is important to make it plain what the product or service is that you are selling. A site should have enough white space so text is easy to read and graphics limited to the product being marketed.
To know what to put on your site to make it attract the reader, you need to keep some key points in mind.
Your Main Product
The main product you want to sell should be on the front page. Even if you have dozens of other products to sell, you need to focus on that one product that's most important and build your front page around it. All other products can be shown on separate pages under different categories.
Filling a Need
If you've done your marketing correctly, you're likely to attract those people who are looking to fill a need. They need solutions to their problems. So you should provide them with those answers on that first page. Your site can emphasize their problem then show them how they can solve it with your product or service. Customers buy solutions, not products.
A Basic Presentation
Many sites get filled with unnecessary details, a lot of graphics and loads of text in different sized fonts. None of them are important. Banners and text ads should be limited. You are, after all, selling a product, not someone else's. Unless your site is directed to college professors and IT specialists, you should keep the language simple and easy to understand. A simple presentation should be focused on your target market.
Establish Trust
One of the greatest problems lies in making your customer believe in you and what you have to offer. The reader wants to know if he can trust you. The art of persuasion doesn't lie in listing dozens of valid reasons why he should buy from you. That will not convince the reader. You need to come across as personable. You need to supply the reader with guarantees that you stand behind what you sell. You need to position your site as low risk. Your site should come across as helpful, seeking to solve the reader's problems. It doesn't hurt to relate a story of a problem you had that was solved by the use of the product.
Supply Proof
Proof can come in many forms, from testimonials, question and answers to endorsements. Proof comes from laying out the benefits of using the product and what it will do for him. Bulleted lists are easy to read and less strain on the eyes. But they should always focus on resolving the issue of concern. Readers care less about the bells and whistles, so emphasis should be placed on those benefits.
Call to Action
Obviously you want the reader to buy and the best way is to give him some incentive. Discounts, specials, free reports entice him to buy now. If he leaves the site, he might never return. Make it easy for him to make that purchase and emphasize the guarantee you make as he fills in the order form.
When done well, the first page of your site can do the majority of selling for you. But there's more than just selling. After sales service is still important. You need to be sure that your customer will continue to buy from you so staying in touch is just as important as that first sale.
