Most Home Pages Really Do Suck
‘Suck’ is a probably a little harsh. Most home pages don’t accomplish their purpose, and yes, some do ’suck’!
I was reading Seth Godin’s Blog today and came across his entry No good home pages?. While I’m sure Seth was just trying to make a point he says “there are no good home pages except for Google.” Then again who knows, maybe Seth really does think that. He has a point though, most home pages are no good. They’re overwhelming and confusing. Hell, I’ve come across web sites, and spent 10 minutes on the home page alone and still couldn’t tell you what they do. Maybe I’m just not as smart as I think.
If I come to your website and don’t know what you’re about within 30 seconds I’ll go somewhere else, and 30 seconds is being generous. The first thing a home page should tell me is; who you are, what your site does, and how I use it. It’s amazing, even some of the biggest brands miss the point. To me it’s just common sense. Do those involved in creating the User Interface just automatically asume everyone knows what they do? Do they even have a clue what they’re doing?
To me a good home page is simple. It’s easy to use and tells me exactly what it does before it tells me anything else. It’s pleasing to the eye and the navigation makes sense. Remember that if you want my business!
Cameron Olthuis is the Founder of
Do you have examples of home pages that work, other than Google. Anything in the retail space? Thank you.
I actually disagree with Seth that Google has the only good home page. While a lot do miss the mark there are quite a few good ones out there. Some that come to mind in the retail sector are:
http://www.babystyle.com
http://www.bluenile.com
http://www.apple.com/store/
I know what these guys sell right away and it’s very easy for me to find what I’m looking.
I think e-commerce sites have an easier time with home page design. The ones that seem to “suck” are the ones that sell every product under the sun (i.e. amazon, buy.com).
Homepages should be aesthetically pleasing and inviting, Google, MSN, and other mentioned in the previous post but one are less than inviting - the reason why people are attracted to these sites is because they have the monopoly on something we all want, and without their product/service our options are limited so whilst we try to find the next button we put up with the poor navigation and whatever is thrown into the homepage.