Are Website Homepages The Most Important To Google?
Website homepages are to be focused on the most or not is a topic of discussion for a long. So, let us help you understand things better.
Whenever your audience thinks of something to search online they straightaway turn to one of the most powerful search engines in the world – Google. This makes every marketer and business owner think of ways to optimize their website so that they appear on top of their competitors in the Google SERPs.
Therefore, one of the main elements that you must focus on is your website homepage if you want to hit that SERP list. Why so?
This is because website homepages are very important to Google. So, you ought to give your best shot to make your homepage stand out among the best website homepages.
Let’s dig out more about the potential importance of home pages for Google. Further, we’ll also shed light on why you should not solely focus on your homepage, and lastly some pro tips for website homepages.
Here, we go!
What Is A Homepage?
Your website’s homepage serves as the first introduction to your business for anyone visiting your site.
They will look over your homepage to get a sense of who you are, what you do, why you do it, why that matters to them, and how they can benefit from it before deciding to become a customer. Usually, it’s a canvas on which you can present your brand identity to your potential customers.
Wikipedia states the home page’s definition as ‘A home page (or homepage) is the main web page of a website. The term can also refer to the start page appearing in a web browser when the application first opens.’
How Important Is the Homepage To Google?
The value of a website’s homepage to Google has long been a topic of debate. While some claim that inner pages are important and should be given more focus, others argue that the homepage is the most significant page to Google.
Due to the abundance of directory links and reciprocal linking in the early days of SEO, the homepage was the most crucial. Obtaining links from directories typically resulted in linking to the homepage, making it the most influential page. But as the link-building trends switched to building links to essential inner pages, the significance of the homepage started to shift as well.
With increased sophistication, Google’s algorithms now give more weight to the relevancy of the content and the user experience than to the number of keywords used. This also indicates that although the homepage is still a valuable asset, its dominance is challenged.
It is well acknowledged that today links are crucial in informing Google which pages on a website are essential. However, certain statements over time made by Google personnel seem to indicate that a homepage is also the most crucial component of a website.
To be more precise, Google uses the homepage as a jumping-off point for crawling a website to discover new pages. Also, to determine the importance of pages Google observes how many clicks are these pages away from the homepage.
This means important content on your website that can be accessed quickly from the homepage tells Google that the page is relevant and should be ranked higher in search results.
Reasons Why Homepages For Websites Are Important
Homepages for websites are important for some really good reasons:
- Help make a favorable first impression.
- Represent your brand identity.
- Route user journeys into conversion funnels.
- Strengthen authority, expertise, and trust.
- Assist people in locating their needs.
- Help to present those subject areas for which a website doesn’t yet have a dedicated page.
Reasons Not To Focus Solely On Your Homepage
Despite being an important page, you shouldn’t only focus on your homepage. Here’s why:
1. Homepages Are Too General:
A website homepage is generally designed to provide an overview of the entire website and cater to different audience segments. However, this can make it difficult to provide specific and targeted information that meets the needs of individual visitors.
2. Most Visitors Don’t Start On The Homepage
With the rise of social media referrals, visitors are likelier to land on your website through specific pages or blog posts rather than starting from the homepage. If you just put all your effort into optimizing and perfecting the homepage, you may overlook the chance to capture the attention of visitors who arrive on other pages.
3. Conversions Happen On Sub-Pages
While the homepage may serve as a gateway to your website, actual conversions such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form, often happen on sub-pages (eg. landing pages, blog posts). By neglecting these sub-pages, you may miss out on optimizing these conversion points and fail to guide visitors toward the desired actions.
Tips For Website Homepages
- Don’t complicate your website design. Keep it simple yet attractive.
- Persuade your visitors to take desired actions by using homepage CTAs.
- To immediately capture viewers’ attention, try to incorporate your main content inside the first few sections.
- Ensure having a proper content flow on your homepage.
- Consider placing testimonials on the homepage to gain visitors’ trust.
- Add the main internal links in the website’s footer to take visitors to other handy pages like the About page or Contact page.
Bottom Line
Though website homepages are not the only important website component for Google. We also can’t deny the fact that even today homepages for websites are highly important to Google.
Remember, depending on the website and its unique context, the homepage’s significance may change. Other elements that go into determining a website’s relevance to Google. Those elements include the user experience, content quality, and the general structure of the website.
By understanding the evolving role of homepages and working on optimizing your internal pages you can formulate a strong SEO plan. This will enhances traffic, elevates interaction, and ultimately accomplishes your website objectives.
Need expert’s support? Get in touch with Arista Systems today!