[intro]When you’re building your Obodo shop and especially if you’ve not owned an online shop before, it’s essential that you learn the anatomy of your Homepage and how important it is that this is as effective as it can be in order to encourage customers to click deeper into your shop to discover your Products and purchase from you. [/intro]

[summary]

• The Header
• Above the Fold
• Below the Fold
• The Footer

[/summary]

In terms of customers visiting your Obodo shop, very often the Homepage is the first page they will see, especially if they have followed a link from social media, so it is essential that your Homepage quickly and effectively displays:

The kind of Products that you sell;

• Details of any offers you have running at that moment;
• How to contact you;
• Trust signals applicable to your business and your brand.

The Header

The header of your online shop and homepage is the element that contacts your logo, telephone number and menu. You need to make sure that:

• Your logo is reasonably sized - no huge logos pushing the content down;
• Clear and concise Calls To Action - but not too many as this can clutter your design;
• Your menu should be doing the thinking for your customers so they don’t have to stop and think about where they want to go. You can learn more about Navigation in this Guide.  
• All Categories and Subcategories should be clearly named for visitors that may have limited knowledge of the products that you sell. Don’t call Categories ‘everything else’.

Above the Fold

Anything above the fold is the most valuable real estate on your Homepage - this is the content that the viewer sees immediately without scrolling down. There are certain things that consumers want to know right off the bat; pieces of information that will influence their decision of whether to buy from you or not. A good rule of thumb is to display key information first and foremost above the fold - place further information in the Footer.

• Slideshows - avoid these at all costs and use static images instead;
• Only use appealing, quality images - nothing watermarked, pixellated or wrongly sized;
• Generate your own Design Images so you have full control over the quality and content. If you’re not a photographer, it’s worth either investing the time in learning how to create strong images or alternatively, hire a third-party to produce your design images for you;
• Make sure that any images on your Homepage are hyperlinked to specific pages within your online shop to aid navigation;
• You need to make sure that your value proposition is displayed within the main image to encourage customers to click deeper into your online shop;
• If you have a Sale Category or an existing discount, make sure that this is clearly indicated on the Homepage - either as a Call To Action or via a Design Image - linking through to the relevant area of your online shop.

Below the Fold

This area is anything that the viewer sees when they have scrolled down. Bear in mind that this line may differ according to whether the customer is viewing your Obodo shop on a mobile, tablet, desktop or laptop monitor. 

• Featured Products - keep these to a single row if at all;
• Ensure any Design Images are appealing and hyperlinked to the relevant content within your online shop to aid navigation;
• Keep the height of your Homepage nice and shallow to encourage customers to click deeper into your Obodoshop;
• You can have Call To Actions above the Footer  -  but not too many, as it can look quite busy.

The Footer

The final element of your Obodo shop Homepage is the Footer - the large element at the bottom which is duplicated across all pages. With this in mind, you need to to ensure that all information in this area is complete. It’s common practice to have important information and links in the footer. Like how you know you always put your keys in that dish by the door - you expect to find them there. Customers expect to find links in the footer, so if it’s key information, it needs to be above the fold but if it’s further information, it needs to be listed within the Footer:

• Display your telephone number if it’s not in the Header - again, use a landline and not a mobile number as this looks more professional and is an added Trust Signal;
• Ensure you have utilised Trust Signals on your Homepage - a lot of these can go in the Footer, such as logos for your Payment Gateway;
• Your contact details should always be visible, physical address, especially if you have a bricks-and-mortar shop. If you are trading from home, add in your address, but not your door number, which again is a Trust Signal;
• List your trading hours if you have a bricks-and-mortar shop;
• Provide links to your Webpages - customers will need to be able to see your Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, Delivery & Returns information, and an About Us page.

[tips]Don’t forget!

Whilst you’re making changes to your Homepage content, you need to:

• Test across different gadgets - phones, tablets, desktops, laptops;
• Test using different browsers to ensure that all of the content displays correctly;
• Consider using heatmapping going forward. Free platforms like Hotjar will allow you to see what elements of your Homepage are most effective and you can use this data to gradually build on an improve your existing design. [/tips]

[more]

• Adding a Theme to your Obodo shop
• Homepage Text
• Trust Signals on your Obodo shop

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[contact]If you need our help with your Obodo shop, contact our Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm on the weekends. If you have a non-account specific question ask the Obodo Team, join us in the Obodo Community on Facebook. [/contact]