Our homepage is a key strategic digital asset, as well as a highly political one. But we must keep in mind that while the homepage is important, so is the rest of our site and the other ways our audiences discover it. How can we manage internal expectations for our homepage while meeting external user needs?
In this webinar, we discuss determining the purpose of your homepage; establishing a homepage strategy (in the context of a whole website strategy); the pros and cons of various homepage content layouts (menus, long-scroll, centerpieces, carousels, etc.); and how to manage political discussions around homepage content.
Originally delivered February 3, 2014
Read more at http://www.meetcontent.com
7. “
#meetcontent
Years ago people might have
thought about getting to the
homepage and then figuring out
where to go on the site. Now they
will use search or external links to
get closer to the place they really
want to get to.
Gerry McGovern
hhttp://giraffeforum.com/wordpress/2010/04/18/the-decline-of-the-homepage/
7
10. “
#meetcontent
The old mantra that every page
needs to be a homepage has
never been more true.
Bob Cohn
Editor, Atlantic Digital
http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/08/coming-in-the-side-door-the-value-of-homepages-is-shifting-from-traffic-driver-to-brand/
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11. #meetcontent
What we’ll talk about...
•
•
Executing a website strategy,
not a homepage strategy
•
Managing a strategic homepage
•
11
Giving your homepage purpose
Considering carousels
14. #meetcontent
Defend your homepage
•
•
Determine which content
efforts best support
that purpose
•
14
Decide on the purpose
of your homepage
Define how best to
measure the effectiveness
of those efforts
20. “
#meetcontent
The homepage is the single best
way for editors to convey the
sensibilities and values of their
websites... The homepage is, as
the marketing team would put it,
the ultimate brand statement.
Bob Cohn
Editor, Atlantic Digital
http://www.foliomag.com/2012/misconceptions-about-homepage#.UTaBC3w4XcO
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21. The challenge is to
balance brand
experience and user
experience.
22. “
#meetcontent
We want our .edu visitors to find
what they are looking for but we
also want to subtly get in their way
with useful and compelling content
that is outside the scope of what
they came in to see.
Susan T. Evans
Senior Strategist, mStoner
http://susantevans.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/ill-see-you-and-raise-you/
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24. “
#meetcontent
When you
think about
it, this is
what all
higher
education
homepages
are trying to
accomplish.
Matt Klawitter
Northwestern University
http://mattklawitter.com/2012/03/01/the-ultimate-ultra-simple-real-authentic-university-website-homepage-wireframe-concept/
24
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cecphotography/5964949045/
33. “
#meetcontent
Too many marketers and
communicators are destroying
whatever credibility their
homepages have left with
customers by filling them with
useless graphics and
meaningless words.
Gerry McGovern
hhttp://giraffeforum.com/wordpress/2010/04/18/the-decline-of-the-homepage/
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34. #meetcontent
Common .edu complications
•
Overusing of news and event listings
•
Linking to resources without context
•
Large left-right scrolling feature blocks
•
Hover menus, fly-outs, and mega menus
•
Missing high-value trigger words (“apply,
give, visit, contact”)
•
Vague, marketing-driven labels instead of
action-oriented labels
Source: Matt Klawitter
34
http://mattklawitter.com/2012/04/13/your-edu-website-is-too-complicated/
36. “
#meetcontent
When you choose well, the campus
community, parents, legislators,
and other ancillary audiences will
also be influenced by this content.
Your homepage can offer points of
pride for many audiences without
muddying the focus on
prospectives and donors.
Susan T. Evans
Senior Strategist, mStoner
http://susantevans.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/ill-see-you-and-raise-you/
36
40. Your homepage may be
your most popular
page, but just a fraction
of your overall traffic.
41. #meetcontent
But if my link isn’t on
the homepage, how will
people find my site?
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http://fourchapters.com/2010/03/word-time-potemkin-village/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheryldudley/3633002627/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucdaviscoe/6303100423/
45. But we’ve always
had a link on the
homepage. You can’t
take it away!
45
http://fourchapters.com/2010/03/word-time-potemkin-village/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheryldudley/3633002627/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucdaviscoe/6303100423/
57. “
#meetcontent
Homepage and web site redesigns
need, more than anything, vision,
leadership, and strategy. A
committee of disparate interested
parties can’t really provide that... [A
committee serves] simply as a
mechanism to distribute blame
when people become unhappy.
Kerri Hicks
Manager of Web Communications, University of Rhode Island
http://allthecandyintheworld.com/wp/?p=107
57
59. “
The homepage is the single best
way for editors to convey the
sensibilities and values of their
websites... The homepage is, as
the marketing team would put it,
the ultimate brand statement.
Bob Cohn
Editor, Atlantic Digital
http://www.foliomag.com/2012/misconceptions-about-homepage#.UTaBC3w4XcO
Homepage carousels
59
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuttermonkey/7044483/
65. “
#meetcontent
Carousels are organizational
crutches... It’s far harder to have an
honest content strategy
conversation and determine what
truly deserves to be on the
homepage.
Brad Frost
http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/post/carousels/
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68. #meetcontent
Erik’s carousel tracking
•
Number of times the feature
is switched by users
•
Total feature clicks
•
Total clicks per position
“I added tracking to to the main feature
on ND.edu as well as four other Notre
Dame sites with carousels, three of
which
are
static,
and
one
that
automatically slides the features.”
68
69. “
#meetcontent
Approximately 1% of visitors click
on a feature. There was a total of
28,928 clicks on features for this
time period. The feature was
manually “switched/rotated” a total
of 315,665 times. Of these clicks,
84% were on stories in position 1
with the rest split fairly evenly
between the other four (~4% each).
Erik Runyon
Notre Dame
http://weedygarden.net/2013/01/carousel-stats/
69
70. #meetcontent
Erik’s carousel best practices
•
Include attention-grabbing,
compelling content
•
Include three (no more than four) features
•
Pay attention to subject matter
Source: Erik Runyon
ttp://weedygarden.net/2013/01/carousel-stats/
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71. #meetcontent
Brad’s carousel best practices
•
Establish some commonality
among carousel elements
•
Don’t make users load more
content than necessary
•
Check how carousel works on mobile
•
Make navigation clear and obvious
•
Track, compile and share usage data
•
A/B testing
Source: Brad Frost
71
http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/post/carousels/
72. usability.gov’s carousel
best practices
#meetcontent
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•
3-4 features, max
•
Align content with users’ top site tasks
•
Suggest more content to users
•
Cycle items at random
•
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Manual advance > Automatic advance
Make navigation intuitive
within carousel frame
http://www.usability.gov/get-involved/blog/2013/04/image-carousels.html
and
included
75. #meetcontent
In conclusion...
•
•
Give your homepage purpose. Defend and
support it with process and measurement
•
Balance user experience and branding
•
Put your audience first
•
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Don’t pay attention to your homepage at the
expense of the rest of your website
Don’t be deluded by fancy functionality