I recently had a big argument with a company in transition. They were known for one thing, with 75% of revenue tied to that thing. Problem was, their future was tied to the other 25%. I was told “Get the old thing off the home page. Fill it with the new thing.” That was the easy part. The hard part was I was instructed to “Create different doors for different kinds of customers.” I argued “For a company in transition, without a lot of awareness and mindshare, the home page needs to deliver the brand strategy.” Home pages that don’t convey brand strategy are often montages of pictures, products and navigation. They lack a POV. A heart. Home pages are the one place in the online world where marketers have complete control of their brands. They can control the story, the claim and the proof. The 3 door approach would have evicerated the strategy.
Why do so many company make brochures out of the home page real estate? Brochure tables of contents, really. Homepages are more and more important in marketing today and they are the least attended to.
For new or unknown companies the home page must communicate the Is-Does. For mature brands, it must move customers emotionally and rationally closer to a sale. Not closer to another page. Templates suck at this. Plants and trees that stay the same are either plastic, hibernating or dead. Your home page should be none of these. Peace.
