What should be on the first page of a web site? I have read that information about the site and what it is about. Of course links to other pages on the site. But what else? Thank you Tom
First of all is clarity of the site. You want to let them know exactly what the sites about, why their there and what they should do next. Other than that obviously easy link navigation and not too cluttered, you want them to browse throughout your site, not overwhelm them all at once.
Your template may be... Just kidding. There's actually no hard and fast rule about this, but I generally try to provide a list of services I offer, in order of importance. Different websites will have a different layout for home page. For example a forum site might want to list their sub boards, instead of any services they offer (a small link to service page). Like wise, a service site will list their services, and if they also run a forum then a small link to forum. Product sites might want to list their products, some branding message, images of popular products etc. Depends a lot on what is the website about... Bye
You need to get people 'hooked'. Capture their attention as soon as you can. Tell them what your site is really about and why they should come back. If people see the first page and dont like it they will probbally not return.
it should include a brief but to the point overview of what your website provides, maybe an image if its appropriate and links to all other pages on your site.
sunset47, can you be more specific about what type of site you're building? There's really no formula that works for all sites. Is it a brochure site? A forum site? An ecommerce site?
My site is www.digitalcamerarevolution.com I am looking to sell digital cameras and I am willing to build it over the course of 6 months or so. Thinking that this way when I do start to become popular I will remain that way for several years. I am a newbe as far as html and the site has some limits on what I can do with there site builder. Pm or email me if you want more details ( )
I think your domain name is way too long, people rarely bookmark sites unless there top quality or something so good they cant find somewhere else and with a name that long I doubt people will remember it much, you should buy a shorter one.
Define a standard structure to site like left panel, right panel etc. Specifiy details about your product there in brief. Also links to other pages of site . make "about us", "contact us" type pages .
I took a quick peek at your site, and I think it's "Ok" as it is now. But I think you should keep it a bit more simple. I mean, you have quite a few links on your first site and it seems that some of those fall under same category. And layout is looking a bit weird with firefox. There are people using different browsers that IE and quite simple page like that can be optimized easily to support fully all of those.
Ecommerce sites definitely need products/pricing on the homepage. The less text the better as the majority of web users do not read or pour over site content; they skim. Bottom line - cut right to the chase. You can always keep your flowery, about us text far below the fold for SEO purposes. Keep your products - your bread and butter - front and center so that's the first thing your users see.