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The home page of an business site is very important, although it may not harken thoughts of the security of a traditional home’s warmth and protection.  Still, it does get its nickname of “home” for a reason.

In fact though, for most business websites, the home page is far from the most important.  That is probably the page that contains an “order now” button or a prospect lead form.  However, in most cases the home page will attract more first time visitors than any other single page on your site.

Your home will be the page to which more outside links point than any other of your pages.  It probably also has its share of internal links from other pages on your site, if only because it typically appears on the navigation menu of every page.  Should your visitors lose their way, due either to taking a wrong turn or due to poor design by your website’s architect, they probably will return to the home page to serve as their base of operations in order to launch another quest.

That’s all a rather long way of saying that a lot of your visitors are going to spend a lot of their time on your website’s home page.  As long as your prospects are loitering there, you better make sure you help them make good use of their time.

That brings us to our central question, which is what are the purposes of a well constructed home page in an intelligently designed web business website?  Consider what follows to be a menu from which you may choose, ala carte:

*  Provide a corporate office atrium to set the mood for your business’ corporate climate–laid back and informal, or efficient and orderly or however else you position the company.

*  Provide directional signs to all of the locations that your most prized customers are likely to want to visit.  Of course, your navigation menu will provide this service on all of your site’s pages, but, since this is often the first visit by many of your guests, the home page is an opportunity to help them understand the road maps that you will regularly provide.

*  Assure that the business’s mission is clearly communicated.

*  Be explicit in explaining to your visitors what you want them to do.  Don’t make them guess!  They visit some sites which want to give away information, others which want their contact information and still others that want them to buy a product or contract for a service.  Maybe your business hopes for all three possibilities.

*  Make a favorable first impression by picking up the clutter; create an attractive but unpretentious space.

Those are some of the things to keep in mind for your home page, whether you have a large, authority website or you hope to construct a mini-site for a small business.

The home page of an business site is very important, although it may not harken thoughts of the security of a traditional home’s warmth and protection.  Still, it does get its nickname of “home” for a reason.

In fact though, for most business websites, the home page is far from the most important.  That is probably the page that contains an “order now” button or a prospect lead form.  On the other hand, the home page is probably the page that will attract more first time traffic than any other page on your business site.

Your home will be the page to which more outside links point than any other of your pages.  Also, more than likely, your home page will be close to the top in terms of the number of internal links directed to it.  Should your visitors lose their way, due either to taking a wrong turn or due to poor design by your website’s architect, they probably will return to the home page to serve as their base of operations in order to launch another quest.

That’s all a rather long way of saying that a lot of your visitors are going to spend a lot of their time on your website’s home page.  While they’re there, you might as well make good use of them and their time.

That brings us to our central question, which is what are the functions of a good home page in an appropriately designed Internet business website?  Here are a few functions from which you can choose, although never try to use one page to do everything.

*  Serve as the foyer for your international corporate office and reflect the corporate climate, whether that is formal and efficient or relaxed and friendly.

*  Provide directional signs to all of the locations that your most prized customers are likely to want to visit.  Of course, your navigation menu will provide this service on all of your site’s pages, but, since this is often the first visit by many of your guests, the home page is an opportunity to help them understand the road maps that you will regularly provide.

*  Assure that the business’s mission is clearly communicated.

*  Tell your visitors what you want them to do.  They visit some sites which want to give away information, others which want their contact information and still others that want them to buy a product or service.

*  Keep the whole place neat and tidy, making it attractive without seeming pretentious.

Those are some of the functions to consider for any business home page, whether you already have a large, authority site or you hope to construct a small business website.