We all know a great homepage when we see one.
They’re usually clean and well-organized, telling us exactly why we’re there, and make the process of navigation easy. Of course, they’re also beautifully designed, with exciting graphics, videos, or animations to bring the page to life. And, finally, it goes without saying that a good homepage avoids common website mistakes and runs smoothly, loads quickly, and is mobile-responsive.
This first impression really does matter.
But even though we all know what we’d like to achieve with our homepage, how do you even get there?
You want a homepage that’s visually appealing and well-written, one that acts as the anchor tying the whole website together. It also needs to serve a specific purpose and be interesting and enticing enough to keep visitors engaged.
In this article, I share the 8 steps I’ve found helpful in deciding how to develop powerful homepage content.
1. Evaluate your website’s content
This may seem like an odd first step, but I think it’s quite valuable.
I’ve found myself relying on the example of a grocery shopping trip to help explain.
Before you head out to the supermarket, it’s likely a good idea to check your fridge and pantry to see what’s missing, throw out everything that’s gone off, and just take stock of what you have. You may also look at your toiletries and cleaning supplies to take stock of those.
After all, how will you know what to put on your shopping list if you don’t know what you need?
Likewise, before you start working on your homepage, I find it helpful to first assess all existing content. There are a few questions you could ask yourself:
- – What engineering material do I already offer on my site?
- – Are there any content gaps that I need to address?
- – Does any of my content require rewriting or do I need some media updates?
- – Which pages on my site perform really well?
I find it useful to create a Google Doc overview of all the current content so it’s easier to decide what you want to keep, what requires updating, and what needs to be removed.
Think of this as an inventory of what’s in your kitchen.
By starting with this step, you can get a better idea of where your website as a whole currently stands and how you can improve your content site-wide.
Importantly, this will also help you decide what you need to focus on for your homepage.
2. Compile a list of your unique value propositions
It goes without saying that your engineering firm’s product or service information must be visible on your homepage.
If you walk past stores on the street or in the mall, you can immediately see the products being sold, so you’ll know right away what that business is all about. Of course, there may be nuances to this that you’ll only discover once you step inside, look around, and possibly talk with a sales consultant. This is especially true for more service-based industries.
However, you’ll still get the general gist of business simply by taking a little peek through the window.
Your engineering company homepage has to do the same. This is the online equivalent of someone taking a first look.
While your engineering blog may be intriguing, your firm’s products or services are likely the reason visitors are heading to your site in the first place, so you really want to highlight this.
What makes your product or service unique? What benefits does your company offer? How can you help solve problems or provide solutions?
These are aspects of your unique value proposition that you’d need to highlight on your homepage.
Many sites also include testimonials from past customers as these provide both social proof and further highlight the unique value of your product or service, so it’ll be a good idea to note this down if you’d need to gather testimonials.
3. Align all your content with the customer’s problem
Your homepage needs to guide visitors no matter where in the purchasing journey they currently are.
Let’s turn back to the shopping analogy for a second.
You’re walking past a shop, take a peek through the window, and like what you see, so you decide to enter. You’re a first-time visitor, so you have some idea of what this shop is about from looking at it (let’s say it’s a service instead of a product-based shop), but you’re not really sure what’s going on. So you’ll need the right information that explains more about what’s on offer, possibly a person to speak with, and perhaps even some video content or a brochure to help guide you. But someone else who enters the shop after you comes here all the time and already knows exactly what steps to take.
The brick-and-mortar store has to cater to both of these visitors – and so does your website’s homepage.
Perhaps your homepage visitor is only there to learn more about your company, in which case raising awareness is key, or perhaps they’re there to raise a concern, in which case offering support is key.
Your homepage needs to be able to meet your ideal customer no matter where in the journey they currently are.
This also ties in directly with the next step.
4. Introduce your business process
Returning customers won’t need as much guidance and may quickly navigate from your homepage to the section of your site they’re looking for, but first-time visitors may require a bit more guidance.
So once you’ve established your unique value proposition and ensured that you can address your customer’s problems, it’s time to introduce your business process more clearly.
How can your website visitor do business with you? What are the steps to take?
Engineers (and all customers, for that matter) appreciate precision and clarity, so avoid fluff and get straight to the point answering the most important question: How can we help you?
Visual elements can be extremely helpful here. Graphics and videos can offer great “how we work” guides, while bullet points, numbered lists, and infographics can help break complex information into more digestible pieces. Diagrams and charts can also be instrumental in summarizing key points.
It’s important to wrap it all up with a very clear call to action. Do your visitors need to book a call? Make an appointment? Fill out a questionnaire?
Make the next step as easily accessible as possible.
5. Create a catchy headline
Now that the “important” bits are out of the way, it’s time to get a little bit more playful.
The above points focus on the non-negotiables in terms of content. But you also need to ensure that you can captivate and intrigue your website visitors. This is where great copy and a catchy headline come in.
Headlines always matter, especially in content, and I have a whole article on how to write great headlines for your engineering blog.
But here I’m talking about a tagline – something simple and focused, consistent with your overall brand voice, that will make your business stand out.
If you already have a company tagline, that’s great. But you can also establish a new tagline for your homepage, or choose something that directly relates to a campaign you’re currently running.
Working with a great website copywriter will help ensure you can get a tagline and business description on your site that highlights why your company is the right brand to work with. You also need to consider the primary SEO keyword here, to give your homepage the best chance of ranking.
6. Create a content plan for your homepage
Now that you know exactly what you need to create your engineering homepage, it’s time to get into the planning bits.
Where do you want to start? And what do you need to get going?
Just like creating a shopping list gives you a clear picture of what you need to get at the shops, creating a content plan can give you a clear picture of what you need to get done to create a powerful homepage.
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF OUR CONTENT PLANNER
Get Started With Your Homepage Content
7. Delegate tasks
Even if you have a perfect plan, it doesn’t mean you need to execute it yourself. In fact, this would hardly be feasible as you need to rely on people with various skill sets to build a powerful homepage.
To continue with our shopping analogy, you can think of it as a trip to the mall with a family of four, with each family member running off in a different direction to complete something from the list.
For your homepage content, this may look something like this:
- – Get input from executive leadership to confirm the homepage design is on the right page.
- – Confirm the unique value propositions you want to present and find individuals at your company who are experts in these matters to ensure you get the best information.
- – Work with a copywriter to help you craft excellent SEO focused text.
- – Come up with ideas and designs with a photographer, videographer, or graphic designer to help establish strong visual elements.
By developing a strong content plan and relying on others to help put it all together, you can quickly create a powerful homepage.
8. Monitor and evaluate performance
Just like you have to repeat your trip to the supermarket every so often, you also need to update your homepage content every now and then.
Maintaining homepage content that appeals is crucial, and this means you have to analyze and measure the effectiveness of your homepage content regularly.
Google Analytics can be very helpful here, as it’ll give you basic insights into your homepage’s bounce rate or session durations. But, you can also rely on heatmaps and behavior analytics tools, like Hotjar, to get a better understanding of where on your homepage visitors spend time and what sections of the site they interact with.
This data will help inform you as to which material is performing well and which is falling short, and will serve you well in deciding how to change things up, if required.
Getting the right views with a strong website content strategy
A powerful homepage is crucial, but the rest of your content also matters. In fact, your overall engineering content plays a huge role in ranking well for SEO in search results – and the overall traffic your site receives.
Contact us today to work with a content team that will help get you there.
Homepage Content FAQs
Why is understanding my engineering audience so crucial in writing effective homepage content?
Understanding your website audience helps tailor the content to their specific needs and interests. It also helps your writer in understanding what type of language works best and what vocabulary they should be using.
How can I effectively convey very complex or technical information?
Visual elements can really help break down complex or technical information. Working with video, animations, and graphics is great, but you can also work with bullet points, a variety of sub-headings, and charts to make technical data a little more digestible.
Does my homepage need to be SEO-optimized?
All website content needs to be SEO-optimized, but this is sometimes a little more difficult with company homepages. Instead of crafting content around keywords, consider using keywords naturally, set up your meta title and meta description well, use optimized alt text for images, and focus on some technical SEO bits like fast page loading times and mobile responsiveness.
