It used to be that the most work was dedicated to perfecting a site’s homepage because, presumably, that would be the place visitors would see first. As Internet users become more sophisticated, they’re bypassing sites’ main pages in favor of getting the information they’re seeking from landing pages. And instead of searching for general terms on Google, Yahoo! and Bing, they’re getting much more specific, finding what they’re seeking sooner.
CMS Wire cites statistics showing that show that the percentage of a large research website’s page views being on the home page has been declining steadily since 2003: 39 percent in 2003, 19 percent in 2009 and, during one month in 2010, just over 2 percent. A technology website, according to CMS Wire, “had roughly 10 percent of page views for the homepage in 2008, and by 2010 it was down to 5 percent.”
What does this mean for you? For one, you should dedicate as much of your website efforts on your landing pages as its homepage, if not more. Make sure your site’s subpages are attractive, easy to read and that your visitors can find your contact information as quickly as possible. If they can’t easily find your contact info, they’re liable to give up, hit the backspace key and take their business to one of your competitors who is only clicks away.
Secondly, you should make sure your site has volumes of content to increase the likelihood of it being found by the people seeking the products, services or information you offer. When it comes down to it, the number of keywords your homepage can rank for is limited; the more landing pages your site has, the greater its reach will be. At the same time, it’s best to avoid loading your site with spammy content that will likely just annoy your visitors and make them question your legitimacy.
That’s not to say you should ignore your homepage’s content and aesthetics. Plenty of people will still visit your main page by typing in your address manually, landing on it through search engines or clicking a link to it on an external site.
