Since you only have a few seconds to engage your visitors and keep them on your site, it’s important that your value proposition and intent be clear the instant customers hit your homepage, says Grant. Great visual design, animation, and pretty pictures can always enhance a website, but you need to take your business’s message into consideration, too.

“Don’t underestimate the expressive power of simple language,” Grant says. “For example, take a look at Facebook’s homepage; they do a really good job of making their service obvious the moment you arrive. Since the first text you see on the login page proclaims, Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life, it’s pretty hard to confuse what they’re selling.”

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