I’ve recently started working with an agency to help me increase lead conversion on our website properties. We’re in the early stages, but already there are several areas I’ve overlooked in designing and laying out our website, starting with our homepage. Here are my top five things you should consider as you design or update your website homepage:

1. Feature Customer Logos. Does the top fold of your home page include logos of your most recognized customers? Recognizable company logos bring instant credibility. Why tuck them away on a landing page somewhere within your website? Bring them front and center, so it’s one of the first things your website visitors see.
2. Use What Your Salespeople Say. Does what your sales team say to close prospects appear on your home page? A good exercise is to discuss with your front-line personnel what features and benefits they highlight about the business that prospects are most intrigued by. I can assure you there are a few nuggets you’ve never thought of. Then, consolidate that information and articulate it on your home page.
3. Address Sales Objections. Conversely, talk to your sales team and identify the biggest objections they find themselves having to overcome when closing a sale. Understand how your sales reps are successfully overcoming those objections and address them on your home page. Certainly, many of your website visitors are thinking the same thing.
4. Clear Call-to-Action Buttons. Whether its Live Chat, Phone or Email Form, ensure your call-to-action buttons are large and visible. Use colours that contrast with the rest of your site–bright orange, blue or green–and ensure they appear on the top fold of your home page, as well as every other page. Your site isn’t designed to be an overblown brochure, but a lead conversion machine. And that begins with a clear call-to-action.
5. Test. Test. Test. Sure there are best practices, but in my experience, best practices tend to differ quite greatly depending on which ‘expert’ you talk to–particularly when it comes to websites. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve consulted with one expert, only to find everything he/she says conflicts with another supposed expert. In the end, the results have not been much different or compelling. The best thing you can do to find out what works for you is to test, and test often. Ongoing A/B and multivariant testing of content, layout, placement, and design is the best way for you to optimize your website to meet your lead conversion goals.