Are you making this classic error with your website homepage?

You know, from your own experience and countless research studies, that a home page only has a few seconds to grab the attention of visitors – if readers are not swiftly engaged they’re off elsewhere.  Despite this the majority of website home pages get it wrong – the way they are worded actually puts people off!  Are you making this expensive mistake with your website?

i-Human

There’s no shortage of advice available on how to create a “killer” home page.  Most of it is sound (be concise, keep the layout simple, feature keywords…).  But the list of tips is so long that it’s easy to lose sight of the most important point of all – the fact that the reader is HUMAN.

“I get that!” I hear you say.  But do you…really?”  Judging by most website home pages the majority of businesspeople don’t get that.

It’s psychology, stupid

Psychology is the study of how the brain works.  And if you want to grab attention, create engagement and get someone to take action (buy, join, download, share…) then some understanding of the subject is useful.   

So, here’s a very basic psychological insight, a fact about human nature.  People are more interested in themselves than in anyone/anything else.  This is the primary point Dale Carnegie makes in the classic “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”  It’s reiterated in countless other books on human relationships, sales and marketing.  It’s why people love taking selfies.  It’s why we warm to people who ask questions about us and are turned off by those that only talk about themselves. 

It's basic psychology – ignore it and your business will suffer.   

Not I, or we, but you, you, YOU

How can you use this insight to make the words on your website more attention grabbing, engaging and persuasive?  By focusing on the reader - discussing whatever problem is bothering them, what kind of solution they are searching for and by empathising with their feelings.  In marketing parlance you need to lead with the benefits (how you, the reader, will benefit).  Only when you have done that, and got them keen to know more, should you follow up with the features (facts about the company and offering to show how those benefits will be provided).

Do most website home pages follow this psychology-led best practice?  No!  They talk about themselves and lead with the features.  Does the reader care that you were established in 2012, that you offer a choice three different service bundles or that your customer relationship manager is a Labrador called Goldie?  Not until you have convinced them that you are going to solve their problem/ease their pain/satisfy their desire/make their life better.

How does your home page plead?

So, is your website guilty?  Does it lead with benefits or features?  Does it kick off with you or we?  Does it use the fact that people are primarily self-interested as a weapon of mass persuasion…or does it completely ignore this basic truth about human nature?

Why do so many websites get it so wrong?

Because people are primarily self-centred, self-interested, self-obsessed.  So they see their website as an opportunity to indulge their ego. The smart thing, however, is to do the exact opposite.  Get over yourself and talk to the reader about their favourite subject - themselves.  That’s the way to get attention, engagement and action.   

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