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On-Screen Real Estate (Location, Location, Location!)

Updated Feb 2006
In any city, certain districts have a higher real estate value than others. On a web page, certain areas of the screen carry more value than the rest of the page, just by virtue of location. To have an effective site, it's crucial to know where these "high impact" areas are, and what belongs in them.

"Give me one good reason to stay...." Remember the old song? The sentiment applies equally well to websites. When people come to your website, they're usually coming with a fairly specific purpose in mind, and they want to know if your site fits that purpose.

If the first impression isn't promising, they don't stay. People who use the 'net have seen a lot of incomprehensible sites, and their trigger fingers are itchy. If your site does not show immediate promise of meeting their needs, they'll go elsewhere.

In practical terms, this means that the no-scroll zone (the part of the page that users can see without doing any scrolling) of the Home page is the most valuable real estate on your entire site.

Studies show that many users either don't scroll, or scroll only when they're actively interested in the part of the page they can already see. Based on what's in the no-scroll zone of your Home page, a majority of your prospective customers will decide whether or not your site deserves further consideration. It's like speed dating; minds are made up very quickly.

In spite of this, it's common for businesses to build Home pages that waste huge amounts of the no-scroll zone with generic "business" graphics that have absolutely no value in communicating what the site or the business is all about.

Another common mistake is to use the Home page to tell the story of the company. The ultimate purpose of a business website is not to inform customers about the company. The ultimate purpose of a business website is to inform customers about what's available to them through the website and the company. Only when people know that there's something in it for them will they start to care about who you are—at which point they can click onto your About Us page.

The second reason your Home page should concentrate on what you offer, not on who you are, is that search engines consider the first few paragraphs of a Home page to be a strong indicator of what a website is all about. All other factors being equal, a Home page that focuses on your products and services will give you a far better chance of ranking well in searches for those products and services than a page about your company history will.

For the same reason, company mission statements don't belong on the Home page. People don't search for "quality service and unconditional satisfaction for all our customers". They search for bicycles.

Another mistake that's frequently made on the Home page is to present an incorrect balance between benefits and features. Most people have heard the sales truism that "people don't buy features, they buy benefits". True enough, but consider the following:

"Acme offers comprehensive workplace solutions to businesses of every size. Maximize your competitive potential in the global marketplace."

Dandy—but what exactly is Acme offering? It could be telecommunications, computer systems, marketing services—any number of things. Yet you'll find whole corporate websites devoted to exactly this type of "fuzzspeak" that frustrates and drives away users.

To serve potential customers best, your Home page should strike a practical balance between features and benefits. One way to do this is to take a piece of paper and list your major products and services, including any features that make you really stand out. Next, list the major benefits of dealing with you. Now weave these together into a tight, concise statement for your Home page.

To test the effectiveness of the text, hand it to a few strangers. Once they've read it, ask them what they can get from your company, and why they would want to. Only when they can answer you clearly is your text ready to occupy the prime real estate on your Home page.