A well-designed home page that tells who you are and what you have to offer in a direct and simple manner, leads to more visitors converting to subscribers for your website.

It is very important to have a transparent and easily navigable web site design. The visitors should be able to easily evaluate what you are offering, without having to go through a number of screens and choices. If a visitor has to spend time finding out how and what it is that you are offering, and how to move about in your site, then they might get frustrated and abandon their trip of the site. Keep in mind that the potential subscriber is not necessarily interested in seeing every department and navigation panel of your site, so design the website, especially the home page accordingly.

The important elements you need to keep in mind while designing your Website Homepage:

Display your website story and what it offers clearly on the home page. As they reach the site, visitors like to find out immediately what you are offering and if interested in your product, they would want to know what it will take to subscribe to your site, without much fuss. Time is a premium commodity and no body wants to waste it by trying to navigate a website to find out what is being offered. Visitors do not like website mazes. Describe your products, your company and yourself in simple language. It is important to take the help of a professional PR or a marketing person to write the content for your website, especially the home page. Professionally written home pages can make a lot of difference to the readability of your website. Do not save pennies on such an important aspect like the home page of your subscription website.

Use colourful images, graphics or photos that look professional. Images and photos used should look professional and convey the theme of the website. For personality driven sites, you can use a professionally taken photograph of yourself. There are royalty free sites from where you can take free photos of models that will work in most situations. While using graphics, use colours that are accepted for business purposes like blues and greys and highlight colours like green and red.

Display testimonials from existing subscribers. Many potential subscribers are looking for testimonials from your existing subscribers, to help them make their decision. Testimonials can act as powerful persuaders, provided they look authentic. For the testimonials to look and sound real, you should include the writer's full name and website address or company name. Also be sure that you want to be identified with the person whose testimonial you are putting on your site, because many visitors will click the link to the testimonials.

Display the 'Subscribe button', link, or department clearly. Be sure that the subscribe button or link is clearly visible and the subscribing procedure is not complicated. Information on subscription and its procedure should be prominently displayed on the home page of your website. If a visitor has to search for subscription procedure details then he might get frustrated and avoid navigating your site any further.

Display associations and affiliations to other important businesses. Be sure to display the logos of the professional associations and memberships that your business maintains. If these logos are not available on the associates' site then you should personally ask for it. You should also display the logo of your payment gateway and SSL issuer on the home page. Also, if your SSL issuer or payment gateway is well known, place their logos on your home page.

Display your Full contact information on the Home Page. Visitors and probable customers are interested in finding out your contact details because they feel more comfortable when they are aware of the physical location of your business. For security of their investment, they feel, a physical address of the company is a must. Many websites place the contact information at the bottom of the home page. The contact information details also carry the copyright notice, followed by the company name and address, and then the phone number and general contact email address on the last line.

The real estate on your home page has to be strategically designed and used, to convert more and more visitors to subscribers for your site. Save your detailed navigation panels and pull-down menus for the Subscribers area because existing subscribers need more details.