Improving Homepage Design & Content

Video summary

Practical advice on how to optimise your ecommerce homepage design and exploit trading opportunities to improve customer experience and drive more product interactions. Get expert insights from two highly experienced ecommerce specialists.

The following topics are covered (timings in brackets):

1. [03:00​] Showing a clear value proposition
2. [04:30]​ Using USP and tactical message bars
3. [06:10]​ Appropriate use of overlays
4. [07:45]​ Improving customer engagement
5. [09:50]​ Displaying clear Customer Service information
6. [11:15​] Promoting key categories & brands
7. [13:10]​ Using product merchandising techniques
8. [14:55​] Showcasing offers
9. [16:20]​ Promoting collections & bundles
10. [17:50​] Personalising content

Are you interested in expert advice and guidance for your ecommerce homepage?

Related podcasts

• Ecommerce content management
• How to improve site performance and page speed

Ecommerce context & trends

Your ecommerce homepage is the primary landing page for some very big marketing channels (TV, radio, PR, brand paid/organic, word of mouth, email etc.).

Up to 25% of first-time buyers rely solely on the homepage to form an impression on what type of products are sold on a website. If your website design is missing out on essential information or features, it can lead to high bounce rates. In this episode we’re focused on the page content, not the site navigation and search; we covered on-site search on a previous episode and have a separate episode for site navigation and menus.

New visitors need help understanding what your brand represents and what it sells. Homepages provide a content canvas upon which to clearly communicate your brand proposition and present exciting content and products. Personalisation technology also enables ecommerce teams to tailor content based on individual user profiles, or to target customer segments with appropriate content.

A failure to make the most of your website’s homepage real estate can results in a poor customer experience and lost revenue. The most common shopper frustrations are:

• Standard usability issues
• Not clear what the site sells or who it’s for
• No signposting to help you decide where to go
• Stale content – not refreshed often enough, doesn’t compel people to click again.

Having worked with ecommerce teams and agencies to improve homepage design usability and content, in this video James & Paul share insights on what to watch out for and how to improve results.