The Hero Section is your first opportunity to connect with your audience and make an impact. Making this a success can lead to higher conversion and lower bounce rates. From our team of experts in web design, here are our four tips to designing a hero section that will bring you the results you need.
The hero section is placed at the top of your home page and works as a cover section of your site’s content. It’s your first and biggest opportunity to invite your visitors to take action.
Whether it’s an invitation to call, book, contact or read more - the better the structure, the higher the chances that visitors will click through. So continue reading to find out these four tips on how to design a hero section for maximum conversion:
Less is More
Avoid content-heavy sections on the hero section and instead focus on a single, punchy line that will entice interest. Remember, the content of this section shouldn’t be loaded with information or text (just like the cover of a book). Write your title in large font, and use a subtitle that goes hand in hand.
Finally (and most importantly), add your call to action. This could be a button that links to a page on your website, a form or another link that is important to you.
Think of the purpose you are creating your website for, and draw your call to action from here:
Generate leads? = Contact us
Sign ups? = Get started/Join now
Awareness? = Learn more
The Need Behind the Need
In the world of Sales & Marketing, there is an important principle of having to identify the need behind the need. Very often your clients will not buy from you based on the features or qualities of the product or service that you sell. They will buy from you for the benefits that your product and service brings them and satisfies their need.
Before you write the content of your hero section, you must identify what your customer’s need behind the need is. Start by searching for the real driver of a purchase or conversion - this is key in writing that one title that defines your business and makes your audience want to take action.
Here are a few examples:
How does my product or service benefit others? (Make it easier, more accessible, etc) - in this case, your content should be around how your product or service can make it easier, or more accessible.
How does my product or service make my customers feel? (Happier, more relaxed, feel at home, etc) - in this case, your content should say state that it brings happiness, relaxation, etc when it’s being used.
If a customer buys a product or service from me, by using it, what objectives do they achieve? (Realise lifetime goals, improve quality of life, etc) - as before, you must focus on your product or service helping your customers achieve these objectives, and on the features it offers.
Design, Contrast & Colour Coordination
Try establishing your website’s theme early in advance. Choose a colour theme, a set of fonts and style. Create your branding guidelines if you can.
As the hero section may be one of the first sections of your website that you design, try to be in line with your branding guidelines as much as possible. Make sure you don’t overwhelm your visitors with excessive colour variety, overlapping design elements or high-density artwork/images. The focus should be on your company’s message and call to action, so don’t distract your customers with anything unnecessary.
When searching for media content, try to stay professional if you can. Rather than use personal photos, try looking into some professional media resources such as unsplash.com or pexels.com - both great libraries with free-to-use resources. Or if you look for something more unique, try shutterstock.com where media is available for a small fee or subscription.
Be As Clear As You Can
Are you familiar with www.webuyanycar.com or www.gocompare.com? Their sales message is as clear as it can be, and so should yours be.
You don’t necessarily need to adapt your name in order to express what you do, but when you write your content, and particularly for your hero section, try to stay as clear as you can, explain what you do and how you can add value. Avoid jargon, heavily technical terms or abstract forms of expression.
Work With a Professional
Are you looking for a professional helping hand in designing your website hero section?
Although it’s a small part of your website, the hero section is definitely one of the most important. It can take a significant amount of energy to build it and you may consider someone with more experience to help you out.
If you are looking to design a high-end version of your website, our team at AST & Partners can help. We are experts in design for Wix & Editor X and can get you started with a free 30-minute consultation. Call +44 793 966 1800 or reserve a call directly in our diary using this link.
AST & Partners is a Web Design Studio based in London specialising in Wix and Editor X Web Design.
Check our portfolio here.