I hope you enjoy this month's topic. This is your newsletter, so if you like or don't like something about it, please email us at newsletter@bullmoosemarketing.com and we will adapt. Like everything on the Web, we too at Bull Moose Marketing need to be flexible... Thanks for reading, Nick Ellinger CEO, Bull Moose Marketing, LLC. Home Pages Are Overrated This is probably one of the most controversial claims we have made at Bull Moose Marketing, so let's be clear -- the home page is the most important page on your site, but no more important than that. There are three reasons why the home page of a site is important, but not important as it is quite often made out to be: If your site is designed well, the home page should have the same navigation as the rest of the pages. Each Web site is a unique and different snowflake and each site has its own quirks of navigation -- where the search box is, where the navigation is located, how to write or call an actual human being, etc. This means that coming to a Web page is like entering a new grocery store, in that you have to find all of the things you are looking for anew. Because of this, it is imperative to have the same navigation on your front page as everywhere else (unless your home page is a tool to sort users into different sub-sites like ours or GE's -- in this case, it is OK to sort, as long as the pages behind have consistent navigation). Why are we harping on this? Because so often, people design a home page, then design navigation. This makes for pretty pages, but hurts the usability of their site and it is the usability that makes people stay. The home page is just another page. If your site is in search engines well, people will bypass your home page and going straight to the information they want. Our February issue discussed how to get in search engines and can go into depth on how to get all of your pages linked. Once you are in search engines and in them well, each page on your site has its own niche on the search engine. If you run an online sporting goods store, someone searching for soccer balls won't and shouldn't go to your home page; they'll go straight to the soccer balls. This is ideal for a user's experience -- they get the information they need in a minimum amount of time (and are more satisfied with the services you have provided as well). This is so ideal for navigation, we suggested in February, and do so again, that you make sure that individual pages on your Web site are in the relevant categories on sites like Zeal and Dmoz and in CPC engines like Overture. However, all of this deep linking (deep linking - v.: The practice of hyperlinking to pages on a site other than the front page of a site) makes the front page less important. Perhaps instead of investing in the front page, resources might be better spent on the pages that call people to buy, donate, or act. Your home page probably isn't where you are losing people. If someone found your home page, it was either advertised, in a search engine, your customer sought you out, or they got there accidentally. In the first three cases, these are users willing to invest a click or two in finding what they need; in the last case, you were unlikely to attract the user anyway. Before investing any more money in your site, find out what page, other than the home page, has the greatest number of people not clicking on from it. Then, figure out why and fix it. Repeat. By investing time and energy in non-home page pages, you will generally get more results at a lower cost. Do you have any pet peeves about Web sites? Let us know at newsletter@bullmoosemarketing.com and we will use comments in our next newsletter. If you would like to subscribe, click here If you would like to unsubscribe, mailto:unsubscribe@bullmoosemarketing.com with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. While Bull Moose Marketing and its agents used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein, Bull Moose Marketing does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident or other causes. © 2003 Bull Moose Marketing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. You may freely distribute Bull Moose Marketing material, as long as it bears the following attribution: Source: 2003 Bull Moose Marketing; www.bullmoosemarketing.com/politics