3 Tips for the Best Website Header to Attract Your Customers

Are you a business owner DIYing your own website?? If so, you NEED to know these 3 tips for the best website header to actually attract your customers and properly sell to them.

Did you know that your website header is potentially one of the MOST IMPORTANT components of your website?? Here’s why:

• One of FIRST THINGS a person will probably look for on your website is your website header/menu. This quickly gives your reader a view of what you will be providing on the site - if you have a hidden menu, you’re creating more work for the reader (which they don’t really love).

• It tells your reader WHAT your business is - a header is the perfect spot for that initial branding (aka YOUR LOGO) that you want to stick in the minds of your readers.

• NAVIGATION IS KEY - if it’s hard to get around your site, most readers will give up and just look up a competitor - we all have been there when we can’t find what we are looking for in the first 10 seconds.

So now that you know WHY you need to have a great header - here’s what a great header looks like:

Put Your Logo/Company Name In the Left Hand Corner

According to UI Research (basically, the study of how we interact with technology), most people, when navigating to a website, look directly at the top left corner of the page, then scan through the rest of a page like a Z.

That being said, you want the FIRST thing your potential customers to see is a strong logo that includes your business name. Although using a small icon or business initials may be cute, you want to cement in your readers mind WHO you are, so they remember that even when they leave your site.

Keep Your Menu Options Short and Simple

Ever heard of the phrase, “Keep It Simple, Stupid?” Haha, yes, it’s a little silly, but it’s a popular phrase in the technology world because it is SO IMPORTANT to make every part of your site very easy to interact with and navigate - so keeping your literal navigation (menu) for your site needs to stay simple as well.

I usually recommend that you keep your website navigation bar to only have 6 or less (preferably 5) menu options for the user to choose from. This keeps the navigation from being cluttered and hard to read. Also, keep your navigation words/phrases short and simple - using “About”, “Contact Me”, etc. vs “All About the Company” and “Contact For Details”, which just ends up squishing in your menu.

Have a Separate Call-To-Action (CTA) Button In Your Header

My last and MOST IMPORTANT tip for your header is to have a separate CTA button in the right hand corner. It is SO important for a visitor of your site to understand what YOU want them to do on your website.

Look at your menu as almost a mini-sales pitch to your customers: you start by introducing yourself (logo/company name), including your information and services (menu options), and hitting them with the big Call-To-Action at the end (CTA Button).

If you take a look at my site, my current CTA is “Contact Me” - encouraging potential clients to contact me to set up custom web design services. For bloggers, it may be your “Blog”, for online shops, it may be a “Shop” Option. Whatever it is, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THAT BUTTON - and that it stands out on your site.

Well there you have it! 3 quick tips to get your website header to communicate effectively with your customers AND convert them into clients!!! Your job - go check out your site and make these changes now :)