6 Ways to Personalize Your Client’s Homepage
Take a moment to think about the last website you visited. What did you like about it? What didn’t you like about it? Would you visit the website again? Within seconds of visiting a business’s homepage, a first impression is already made.
In a similar way, when pitching your web design services to a small business owner, you only have a few moments to spark their interest, make a great first impression and move them closer to a sale.
You can make a great first impression by showing them a personalized homepage design that is truly customized for them. While our pre-built Themes are the perfect starting point, taking a few extra minutes to add some personalized touches can help make the design resonate with the business owner and make them want to buy it. Ultimately, this approach will help you build a good rapport with the business owner and lead to more sales.
When building out your next homepage to present to a client, consider incorporating these six elements into your website design:
1. Add Authentic Photos
All SiteSwan website themes include high quality stock images. We even have a library of more than 2 million photos to choose from. But, to make a better first impression, swap out some stock images with authentic photos of the business. An easy way to access authentic photos is to check the company’s current website or social media pages. Depending on location, you might even stop by in person to snap a few quick photos. Clients will appreciate you going above and beyond like this.
Here’s a tip: keep image quality in mind. A low quality image could tarnish the aesthetic look of the design. Instead, use a stock photo for now and you can always swap out the image when a better photo is provided to you by the business owner.
2. Use the Business Name In Place of Generic Words
Replace generic words such as “our” and “we” with the business’s name. Also consider adding unique details about the company such as the number of years they have been in business or any special milestone achievements.
For example, let’s suppose you’re helping a plumbing business in New York called ABC Plumbing. Instead of their homepage stating “We have been in the plumbing business for many years…”, a better sentence would be “ABC Plumbing has been serving the New York area since 1980.” This will help the business owner identify that this site was truly tailored for them and that you took extra time to get to know their business.
3. Display the Company Logo, Address, & Contact Information
The logo is the most identifiable component of a business brand. Witnessing their logo on a homepage will help the business owner feel an instant connection to your website design. The logo colors will also dicate the colors you use throughout the site.
Adding the business’s contact information and address demonstrates best website practices. One of the biggest mistakes businesses frequently make is that their contact information is not easily accessible on their site. Including these details shows that you have their best interest (and that of their customers) in mind.
4. Use Brand Colors Throughout the Website
It’s very important for businesses to use the same brand colors throughout all their marketing materials including their website. Otherwise, this could confuse current and prospective customers. Now that you have uploaded their logo, you can identify what accent colors to use on their website. The SiteSwan platform makes it simple to update the colors and completely transform the look and feel of a site.
With just a few quick clicks, you can change the background, accent, and font colors on a SiteSwan webpage to correlate with the business's logo. This way your client can see how the site will look with their brand colors (and better envision the result of hiring you to take care of their website).
5. Display Customer Reviews & Testimonials
Personalize the page further by adding customer reviews, testimonials, and/or a quote from the business owner. In many cases you can source reviews from the company’s current website, Google reviews, or social media pages. You’ll typically want to display at least three reviews/testimonials on the homepage.
Displaying reviews on the client’s homepage will help them build that "know, like, and trust" factor with their prospective customers. It also shows that you understand the importance of reputation management and are committed to showing their company in the best light possible. If your client has a multitude of reviews/testimonials (ten or more), then you can make the suggestion to create another page on the site that is dedicated just to reviews. This way the homepage displays their top three reviews/testimonials followed by a link to “read more reviews here.”
6. Display Social Media Icons
Lastly, take a moment to add social media icons and links to the business’s social media pages. You can normally find these links on their current website or by conducting a search on the social media platforms. This is just one more way that the site is personalized just for them and helps them further envision what the rest of their site will look like after hiring you.
Here's a tip: If you notice that the client doesn't have social media pages set up, this could be a great opportunity for you to assist them and earn some additional revenue. Social media is a great complimentary service to web design.
Final Thoughts...
Incorporating personal touches during the web design process can take some time but will be worthwhile when you present it to your future client. Whereas most other web designers might show a prospect examples of past sites they've created, you’ll be showing them exactly what THEIR website could look like after hiring you. By showing them a picture of the end result, you’ll be providing an excellent client experience, make a great first impression and increase your chances of closing the deal.
Published on December 1, 2021
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