What Is Your Website’s Most Important Page?
Anthony Hutchcroft , 1st on the List Promotion Inc. - Search Engine Optimization 0 Comments | Add Yours
About The Author:
Anthony Hutchcroft is a SEO content optimizer for 1st on the List Promotion Inc. specializing in creating optimized website content for business clients throughout the United States and Canada. His work history also includes keyword research, website navigation and layout, and writing featured articles for news publications.Is this a trick question?
No, but the answer can be quite tricky.
There are three ways at looking at this question:
1. From the search engine’s perspective
2. From your perspective (the website owner)
3. And from the visitor’s perspective
Is It the Home Page?
Anthony Lepki of SiteBuilderOne.com would argue that the most important page on your website should be your homepage, a view that Lepki says is shared by the search engines.
“For the most part, the homepage is the entry point, the doorway to the rest of your pages,” says Lepki adding that, “in most cases, most people ultimately visit your homepage and it’s the first impression they get of you and your business.”
Ask web designers, developers and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals and most would agree with Lepki and the search engines that the most important page on any website ought to be the homepage.
But does the majority rule?
Should It Be the “Conversion” Page?
Ask the marketing people for most online businesses and they will tell you that the most important page on your website is the conversion page…the one that makes the sale.
Marketers tend to think that the homepage is just the beginning of the sales funnel. They feel the homepage only serves to point the way and provide relevant information. It is truly at the “interest” stage in the sales formula AIDA, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.
The most important page say marketers, is where the visitor is engaged enough to take action, hence the conversion; a sale, a completed form, a download or whatever you deem to be a conversion.
“Obviously, there can be some exceptions,” states Lepki adding that “For some web owners it may be a separate landing page, the contact page or the ‘goal’ page (the lead generation page) that takes precedent over the homepage.”
Edmond Moss of AllStar Logo, a Los Angeles custom logo embroidery firm agrees. “The most important page to me is my web page on men’s clothing,” cites Moss, “That’s my biggest seller.”
If you are a an e-commerce website owner most likely you would want to agree with Moss and the online marketers and not choose your homepage as the most important page on your website.
What Do the Analytics Say?
For the sake of argument I took a look at the analytics for eight of our clients and then removed the highest and lowest results to try and get a more accurate picture of the averages.
On average 67% of visitors came in through the Home/Index page. The average for the second most popular entry page was a mere 3%. That’s quite a spread.
Each visitor viewed a total of 2.59 pages on average and you guessed it…the homepage accounted for 37% of all page views while the second “most-viewed” page averaged a mere 6.22% (a six to one margin!).
For these clients at least, the statistics reveal that the homepage is indeed the most important ‘landing’ page as well as the most viewed page by far.
It’s a good idea to check your website analytics if you have it, to find out what is your top entry page and which page gets viewed the most. Chances are it will be your homepage.
Surprisingly, while not in the top four for entry pages in the analysis that I conducted, the “Contact” page was within the top four spots for page views.
And the Final Consensus Is…?
The analytics show that the visitors definitely viewed the homepage as “the” most important page.
The search engines, especially Google, like sites with a clear hierarchy and they consider your homepage to be your most valuable piece of online real estate.
You can find Google’s view on the importance of your homepage under “Give Visitors the Information They’re Looking For.” In their section on Google-Friendly Sites Google states, “Provide high-quality content on your pages, especially your homepage. This is the single most important thing to do.”
Less Than 10 Seconds to Impress
Your potential visitors begin by making a search query. The search engines just want to give the searcher the information they are looking for.
It’s up to you to provide that information and present it in a way that satisfies the search engine and the searcher.
It’s a fact. Homepages tend to rank higher than your other pages in the search engine listing results. It’s also true that web searchers scan, they seldom read.
The experts say you have less than 10 seconds (some say less than 8) to grab the visitor’s attention. If you fail to give the viewer something that is relevant to them, you will lose them; as simple as that.
Personally, I agree with the visitors and the search engines… the homepage “is” your website’s most important page, which I treat like its moniker…as an “index” page.
Neither the search engines nor the visitors will take the time to find the information they want if it is not clearly and concisely laid out for them.
The Most Important Part of the AIDA Sales Formula
“Attention” is the most important part of the sales formula AIDA for without it, there can be no Interest, no Desire and no Action.
The homepage should be visually appealing with concise text content that serves as a summary, an overview of what the rest of the website has to offer.
I include static text links to the most relevant “topic specific” pages so that I can direct the visitor on through the sales funnel in order to accomplish the website owner’s goals.
Online search trends indicate that a growing number of potential customers prefer to research your company online first, before doing business with you online or offline.
Don’t just make a good impression with your most important page. Make sure your homepage grabs their attention and makes a “great” impression.
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