Your home page: does it tell your company's story clearly?

Your home page may be your one chance to tell site visitors what you do. It may have changed over time without anyone taking a good look at it. Stand back now and see if your home page follows these guidelines:

Be brief and informative People won't spend a lot of time figuring out what you're trying to say. They also won't spend time trying to figure out why your site or product is special, so be explicit. Mention special things about your site, company or products right on the home page.

Be complete Let people know what your product or service is. Don't make them hunt for the information, and don't assume that they know anything.

Don't expect registration immediately People generally enroll or join a site after being convinced that your service is useful. Some people don't need much detail, but others need to know everything. Be sure you're serving them all, and don't assume they'll sign up on the home page.

Design it well Your home page doesn't need to be a work of art; in fact it probably shouldn't be. It should be attractive enough to convince people that you're a real company that will be around for awhile. Graphic design isn't just beauty, though, it supports the interactions and helps people understand their choices.

Help new and return users Help new users understand what the site is about, but provide navigation into the site for return users as well.

You know what happens if your home page doesn't interest people, right? ... they just leave.

More information: articles on building Web sites, the steps in designing a product and using ROI in analyzing design decisions.