59 seconds. That’s exactly how much time a first-time visitor stays on your home page before deciding whether or not to leave or read the rest of your content. In this article, we look at the best practices of the top ecommerce sites.

Use powerful headers that clearly state your offer

The first thing people read is the header on your homepage. Make sure you make a very concrete value proposition. Look at what DropBox did: in just a few seconds, it identified your need and promised a solution.

 top commerce sites dropbox

Make it easy to click on a Call to Action

The top ecommerce sites put the call to action above the fold (or the upper part of the website). Since more people scroll down, that’s not such a hard-and-fast rule anymore. However, it should be on the home page and not hidden away in a tab. A lot of businesses assume that if you just have an “About Us” then the customers will call you if they really like you, but some need an extra push.

You can put it in the homepage itself, like FitBit did.

fitbit top commerce sites

 

You can also create pop-ups that activate when the user leaves your website. (We generally don’t like pop-ups that randomly appear, because it’s annoying to have something block whatever you’re reading.

Use color psychology

Studies show that colors trigger certain emotions. You can use this to guide the color scheme of your website or your call to action buttons.

color psychology homepage

Pick the right photos and directional cues

Needless to say, you need high quality images. But one trick is to use directional cues that lead the reader’s eye from the photo to important text.

For example, compare these two website layout. in the first, the baby looks at the camera. In the second, the baby looks at the signup form. In the second, people looked at the sign up form – and guess what they did? Yes, they signed up!

Use short copy and white space

People don’t read home pages, they scan them. Your sentences should be short, and your paragraph limited to just three sentences maximum. (That’s also why top ecommerce sites invest in photos and videos – they’re the fastest and clearest way to communicate a brand message.)

So limit your homepage content to the important stuff, leave white space to help the eye focus on your messages, and make it easy for them to find out more.

MapleTree Media can help you create a powerful homepage and become one of the top commerce sites in Singapore! Contact us — we’d love to hear from you!