Have you ever noticed how much time, effort, and money brands spend on their storefront? The reason they tend to go the extra mile is because they understand the importance of having a well-designed and engaging storefront. Naturally, shoppers prefer to shop at a store which is well-designed and welcoming. If the storefront is in a derelict condition or poorly designed, no person would want to shop there.
In the case of online stores, the homepage acts as the storefront. Therefore, it is imperative to have it as engaging as possible. A poorly designed Magento homepage means visitors won’t even bother browsing the rest of the website. They will simply close the tab and move to another website. There are different ways to go about designing an effective homepage.
Different Approaches to Designing a Magento Homepage
First option is to do it yourself. However, Magento 2 is not user-friendly. Without the technical know-how, you cannot design anything, let alone the homepage. Another option is to use ready-made templates and then customise it according to your brand requirements. If this is not feasible, you can engage a Magento solutions provider which specialises in website design or hire your own in-house team.
There are pros and cons associated with each option. However, the purpose of this article is not to delve into it. Instead, our focus is the best practices associated with designing an effective Magento homepage. We will discuss on various areas that will enhance the user experience, drive engagement, and ultimately boost your Magento 2 store’s sales.
Importance of a Well Designed Magento Homepage
1. Brand Perception
The first thing you need to understand is that the first impression is the last impression. If you have a poorly designed homepage, visitors will perceive your online store as less trustworthy and reliable. They may think that if the store is not willing to improve their own website, how can they effectively cater to a customer’s requirements. A well-designed homepage conveys professionalism and credibility. These are among the leading factors that influence a user’s buying behaviour.
2. Ease of Navigation
Suppose a user lands on your homepage, looking for women’s pant suits. They’ll be expecting a menu with options such as Men, Women, and Kids. Each of these categories will have further sub-categories. For example, for women, the subcategories will be formal, nightwear, footwear, jeans, accessories, and so on.
What if the website is so poorly designed that the menu items are out of place.
Another possibility is that the menu is nowhere to be bound as the button blends in with the rest of the website, making it invisible. Imagine the time and effort a user will need to spend to just find the desired product. In most cases, users won’t even go through this hassle. If they are unable to find the product they are looking for, they will simply move to another website.
A professional homepage makes it easier to navigate the store. The menu buttons will be visible, the content will be expertly organized, and the design elements will help users find the desired product or information with ease. Naturally, this will enhance the user experience and add to their satisfaction. They will have little reason to go to another store to complete the purchase.
3. Bounce Rate
Do you know about the bounce rate? For the unversed, it refers to the number of users who open a single page of your website and exit it without clicking on any other page. For example, your website has 100 unique visitors. 75 of them close the tab without clicking on any other page. Thus, the bounce rate will be 75%. It may not appear that big a deal, but it has repercussions.
For example, Google and other search engines use the bounce rate as a measure of a website’s quality. If the bounce rate is quite high, Google considers the website to be of lower quality. Thus, it demotes the website down the rankings in search engine results pages. In other words, a high bounce rate will lead to a decrease in online rankings i.e. lower organic traffic.
With less organic traffic, your sales will start to go down. You will have to spend more on paid marketing campaigns. In contrast, an engaging homepage can captivate the users and compel them to visit other pages. This will reduce the bounce rate. In turn, your online rankings will see a boost and your store may also benefit from more qualified leads than before.
4. Online Rankings
One of the key marketing strategies for any online store is search engine optimization (SEO). It involves improving the quality and quantity of organic traffic coming to your Magento 2 store. When you have a well-optimised homepage which contains relevant keywords, meta tags, and more, it will benefit from a higher ranking in the search engine results page.
That’s not the only way a homepage can improve online rankings. A well-designed homepage provides a clear overview of the website’s hierarchy. This makes it easier for web crawlers to index your website. On the other hand, a homepage which lacks keywords or structure will be difficult to crawl. Hence, it will automatically go down in the rankings, lead to decrease in leads.
5. Responsive Design
One of the key elements when designing an effective homepage is a responsive design. It means that the website will load seamlessly irrespective of the device type. For instance, whether a user is loading it from their smartphone or desktop, there won’t be any out-of-place elements or other loading issues. A responsive design boosts the user experience, leading to higher conversions.
6. Outreach
For marketing purposes, you will reach out to others. For example, you may reach out to another website to publish a guest post and get a high-quality backlink in return. You may ask an influencer to promote your store. When they see that your homepage and website are poorly designed, they will be reluctant to promote your store. This can be quite damaging to your store’s reach and online visibility.
Key Elements of an Effective Magento Homepage
1. Clear and Intuitive Navigation
The first and foremost thing you need to do when designing a homepage is to have clear navigational elements. The main navigation menu must be prominent i.e. easily visible. It is better to have it on the top of the page since this is where most users expect it to have. When it comes to the word, make sure to use descriptive labels. This makes it easier for users to find what they need.
Don’t forget to include search functionality. Just like the menu bar, make it appear prominently on the top. You can enhance the search functionality with additional features. You can enable them using the Magento 2 in-built features or get a third-party extension for this purpose. Additional features include auto-suggest, filters, and personalized search results.
Furthermore, another way to enhance the navigational experience is to set up breadcrumbs. It helps the user understand their current location on the website. This can help easily explore other sections or visit previous pages. There are different ways to set up breadcrumbs in your website. We recommend experimenting with each to determine the best one for your Magento 2 store.
Source: HubSpot
The above screenshot provides a visual depiction of breadcrumbs in action. As you can see for yourself, the user can easily determine their current location on the website. If they need to revert to an earlier page such as ‘Marketing Tools’, all they must do is click on it. A notable benefit of breadcrumbs is that they reduce the bounce rate since navigation is quite hassle-free.
2. Compelling Visual Design
You want your Magento 2 homepage to stand out. So, we recommend asking the Magento 2 solutions provider or your in-house team to work on the hero banner. This is the image or video that appears prominently at the top of the homepage. This is the perfect place to highlight new products or promotions. You can also use to share important information about the store.
When designing the hero image, you want to spend as much time and resources as possible. After all, the hero image has an important bearing on your store’s success. Homepage is a great way to introduce your products and services. To engage the audience, use high-resolution images. Make sure that they are served in the next-gen form (e.g. WebP) and accompanied with keywords in the alt text.
This can boost your store’s loading time, improve online rankings, and enhance the user experience. Another thing to keep in mind is consistency. The last thing you want on your homepage is to have different font style, font size, colours, and imagery. Instead, you need to follow the same style throughout the page. It is a tried and tested way to improve brand recognition and trust.
3. Effective Use of CTAs (Call to Actions)
The homepage is a perfect place to compel users to complete a desired action. For example, the hero image or video often gets the most attention as soon as a user lands on the page. Thus, it is a perfect place to add CTAs. For example, if the hero image is highlighting a new product, you can add a ‘Buy Now’ CTA to compel users to go to the product page.
Apart from the hero image, there are other areas on the homepage where can you benefit from adding CTAs. Since we are focusing on an eCommerce store, it is likely you’ll have a featured products section. These are usually the best-selling products of your store. It is also the place where visitors will pay extra attention to. Hence, placing CTAs here can prove beneficial.
When adding CTAs, don’t use long words or sentences. Instead, follow the KISS principle. KISS stands for ‘keep it simple, stupid’. Use concise, outcome-oriented language. For example, ‘Sign Up, ‘Buy Now’, or ‘Add to Cart’ CTAs effectively communicate the intended outcome. This is a great way to enhance conversions and increase user interaction.
It is pertinent to mention that when designing a CTA button, there’s no right way. Instead, you need to undertake regular A/B test to determine which CTA button works the best. When performing the A/B test, it is recommended to experiment with elements such as the placement, text, and the button’s colour. This will help you finalise the most effective CTA for your target audience.
4. Personalisation
We are living in an age where users don’t just expect personalisation, they are demanding it. Unless you are selling very rare items, you’ll be competing with countless other stores. With so many options available to your target audience, why should they consider your store over others? While pricing and quality can be effective points of differentiation, they are easily replicable.
In simpler words, other stores can also offer the same price and quality as your store. Therefore, you need to adopt a strategy that others cannot copy easily. This is where personalization comes into play. Use a third-party extension or Magento’s in-built capabilities to offer personalized product recommendations. These recommendations can be based on preferences, past purchases, or browsing behavior.
This is not the only way to ensure personalization. Offer dynamic content to users based on their location, customer segment, behavior, or any other aspects. For example, you can display related products to returning users/buyers and completely different items for first-time visitors. If you are offering the same content to all users, you’ll quickly start losing customers to your competitors.
5. Showcase Your Products
Set up different sections to highlight your products. For example, you can have sections such as ‘New Arrivals’, ‘Best Sellers’, or ‘On Sale’. Each section caters to a different customer segment, making the homepage engaging for all. We recommend using product labels to capture the user's attention and make it easier for them to find the relevant item/information.
6. Loading Speed
A website’s loading speed is an important ranking factor for almost every search engine, including Google. Therefore, we recommend optimizing the homepage to ensure faster load times. Here’s how you can do it:
Optimize the Visuals
Use compression tools to reduce file sizes. Ensure that the quality does not deteriorate.
Lazy Loading
It refers to a feature where the browser does not load the entire website. Instead, only the part which is visible on the screen is loaded. If a user scrolls down, the browser will load the remaining website. This is done to reduce the bandwidth needed to load the website completely and improve loading times simultaneously.
Reduce HTTPS Requests
Furthermore, try reducing the HTTPs requests by combining CSS and JavaScript files.
Utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
If your website caters to users across different geographic locations, invest in a CDN. This a way of delivering content to the user from a server closest to their location. Suppose your store is based in the US. If a user from Europe is trying to access it, the loading time will be high since the request needs to reach the US server. If a CDN is set up, the request is routed to a server in Europe.
7. Responsive Design
The below image shows the percentage of global traffic coming from mobile devices.
Source: Statista
As you can see, more than 50% of global internet traffic comes from mobile devices. It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that more than 50% of your store’s traffic is from mobiles. Thus, it makes sense to ensure that the homepage and the rest of the website is optimized for mobiles. Therefore, set up features such as a hamburger menu and ensure that elements are large enough that they are tappable.
Apart from this, offers swiping ability to mobile users. For example, swiping right will take them to the next page, whereas swiping left will take them to the previous page. Another thing to focus on is social media shareability. Most users prefer smartphones to access their social media profiles. Therefore, allowing them to share your store’s content across their social media profile can enhance user satisfaction.
8. Showcase Trust
Despite eCommerce becoming the norm, many users are still reluctant to shop online. For a new store with no reputation, winning over customers can prove quite challenging. Users may perceive your store as fraudulent. To overcome this challenge, you need to showcase why users can and should trust your store. There are different ways to achieve it.
Trust Badges
One strategy is to display security badges across the website. For example, display the SSL certificate to prove that user information is secure. Similarly, you can add an antivirus trust badge or payment method icons to win over the audience’s trust.
User Generate Content (UGC)
Before buying an item online, users have a habit of going through reviews. Instead of making them search for the reviews, provide them with this information on the homepage. You can display UGC across the website to provide social proof.
Reviews
Likewise, add product reviews, including the negative ones to the homepage.
9. SEO Optimisation
Don’t forget about optimizing your homepage from the search engine’s perspective. After all, higher rankings in the search engine results page can increase conversions. Therefore, make sure to number all the headings correctly. For example, H1 is the page title. H2 can be useful in highlighting a new section, whereas H3 can be used for sub-sections.
Similarly, optimize the meta tags and titles. It is best to insert primary keywords in the headings, meta titles, and meta tags for greater online visibility. However, keywords should appear naturally. If you are adding them just to boost your ranking, it will be considered keyword stuffing. Google and other search engines may penalize your website because of it. Also, update content regularly to ensure it remains relevant.
10. Continuous Improvement
Lastly, use tools like Google Analytics to monitor user behavior on the homepage. Use the information to improve the homepage from time to time. Google Analytics provides important information pertaining to metrics such as the bounce rate or average session duration. This can help identify areas for improvement. Consider using heatmaps to gain insights regarding how users interact with the homepage.
Conclusion
This concludes our article on how to design an effective homepage for your Magento 2 store. We have covered every possible aspect, ensuring you can easily set up a homepage that drives conversions and increases engagement. If you require any help with website and development, you can connect with 10com, a leading Chicago web design agency.
About The Author:
Humza Ahmad Barlas is a creative professional and versatile writer with a passion for digital media. With experience in crafting compelling narratives and developing engaging content, he also excels in content strategy and digital marketing, delivering high-quality results. He can be reached at https://pk.linkedin.com/in/humza-barlas-54ba6a9b
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