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The homepage is the most important page of your business’s website. It is the virtual shop front to your business, providing your customers a first impression of what you have to offer. You only have seconds to grab your customer’s attention so it is key to make sure that they can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.

8 essential items and design features to include on your homepage

While you’re free to be creative with the design of your homepage, there are some standard items that a user will expect to see when they arrive at your website.

Branding

Branding can be in a name, sign, symbol, slogan, words or design, or a combination of these elements, that identify the products or services of your business and help you stand out from your competitors.

• Ensure your brand is easy to see on your homepage and include your business logo and headline at the top of the page. A headline tells your visitors what your business has to offer.
• Create a great headline for your business by writing down the key points you want to communicate about your brand. Keep the message clear and simple. Don’t forget, your brand is your promise to your customers so make sure you can deliver what you promise.
• In order to keep your brand consistent, make sure that the look and feel of your website is similar to the look and feel of your printed materials and branding (e.g. brochures, menus, advertisements, letterheads).

Contact Information

• Make sure your customers can find you or get in touch with you by having your contact number, address, email address and/or contact us form easily accessible and visible on your website’s homepage.
• If you have a physical shopfront, make sure you include the hours and days of the week you are open, and provide an online map directing customers to your business.

Site Search function

• Add a search function on your homepage to help users find information on your website.
• Place the site search box in the middle or to the right of the header where users are more likely to find it.
• Colours and boarders can help the site search box stand out on the page.

Call to action (CTAs)

A call to action is an image or text that prompts your user to take some form of action.

• What do you want your users to do on your site? Do you want them to place an order, subscribe to a newsletter, register for an event or request a quote? You can use CTAs to direct your audience to areas of your website where they can perform an action, whether it is to sign up, register or subscribe.
• Ensure the CTA stands out from the other content on the page. You can have it in a colour that makes it stand out from the colour scheme of your homepage.

Site Navigation

A good site navigation will help customers to find the different areas in your website.

• Include a clear and simple site navigation bar to link to the different pages on your website. If your website is very detailed, you may just link to the primary pages.
• Place your site navigation bar either at the top of the page or down the side of the page so it’s easy for customers to find.
• If your site contains a large number of pages, you may look into using a drop down menu for your navigation bar.

Images

• An image or short video on your homepage that clearly shows what you offer can make your site more attractive to your audience, enhance the user experience and help with the overall branding of your business.
• Don’t use images just to fill white space, make sure the image matches the content on the page. Users pay close attention to images that are relevant.
• Make sure your images and videos are of high standard as the quality of the images can affect how your users perceive your website.

Typography

Typography is the visual component of the written word, the art and technique of arranging print.

• Use a couple of fonts that are consistent with your brand’s voice and tone. Too many different fonts and sizes can make your website look cluttered causing confusion.
• Be consistent and use the same font and typeface in both your digital and printed material so customers immediately recognise your brand.
• Make sure there is a strong contrast between the colour of your text and the colour of the background, so the text is easy and comfortable to read and meets accessibility standards.
• Making your text in italics or bold can also cause your content to be difficult to read on some screens.

Content

• As website users generally scan pages, your content needs to be easy to read and direct.
• Use short paragraphs on your homepage and try to bring your message across with as little words as possible. A short paragraph on your homepage summarising your business and products and services can help grab your customers’ attention.
• Make sure your content is relevant, and speaks the language of your customers.
• Keep the important content near the top of the page so the information isn’t lost on smaller screens.

Build a great first impression

Make your first impression count! A clean and appealing web design, which is easy to navigate and highlights the key points of your business, can better attract customers than a website full of irrelevant information. If your audience can’t identify what it is your business can offer, they won’t stick around.

Find out more…

• Head to Queensland Government website for tips on how to create a website.
• Check out the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
• Get Practiceplus to build your website

In a June 9, 2017  Tax Court of Canada  case (Gingras vs. H.M.Q., 2013-4696(IT)G), at issue was whether an ABIL could be claimed in respect of the  loan  from  a  taxpayer  to  his  daughter’s  start-up  company.Within approximately two years, operations had ceased and the daughter had claimed personal bankruptcy.
One of the conditions required to claim an ABIL is that the  loan  was  advanced  to  earn  income(Subparagraph  40(2)(g)(i)).  The  loan  agreement stipulated that  interest at 6%  was to be charged, but payments would not commence until 2009, which, as it  would  turn  out,  was  after  the  business eventually ceased.  The  Minister  argued  that  no  interest  was charged, and therefore, there was no intent to earn income.  This  was  partially  based  on  accounting records  of  the  daughter’s  company  which  were inconsistent in their reflection of accruing the interest.

Taxpayer wins Despite the conflicting records the Court opined that the interest rate included in the agreement was legitimate and that there was an  intent to earn income. The ABIL was allowed.

PRINCIPAL  RESIDENCE  EXEMPTION  (PRE)  –DESTROYED PROPERTY In  a  July  13,  2017  Technical  Interpretation  (2017-0702001E5, Robinson, Katie), at issue was the applicability of the principal residence exemption  to  the  sale  of  the  land  remaining  after  the  principal residence that was previously located on it was destroyed by fire.

CRA opined that for calendar years subsequent to fire, the conditions  for designation  as  a  principal  residence  (Section  54)  would  not  be  met.Presumably, CRA was referring to the requirement that the property be ordinarily inhabited  in the year.  However, it was noted that the full gain could be eliminated by the “+1” rule in the formula if the land were sold in  the  subsequent  year  to  the  fire,  and  the  property  eligible  for designation in all prior years.

SETTLEMENT OF FORWARD CONTRACTS –  INCOME OR CAPITAL In an August 8, 2017  Tax Court of Canada  case (MacDonald vs. H.M.Q., 2013-4032(IT)G), an individual entered into a  forward contract  (FC) to speculate against a short-term increase in the trading price of Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) shares. Although the taxpayer also held actual BNS shares, the FC was to be settled in cash with no exchange of shares. As the stock value increased, the taxpayer suffered $9.9 million in lossesrelated  to  the  FC.  At  issue  was  whether  the  loss  was  on  account  of income or capital.

Taxpayer wins CRA  argued  that  the  contract  was  obtained  to  hedge  against  the taxpayer’s capital investments in BNS shares and was, therefore,  capital in nature.  However, the taxpayer argued that the FC was not a hedge, the  intent  was  to  profit  in  the  short-term,  that  it  was  pure speculation, and simply an adventure in the nature of trade.

The Court found the taxpayer to be a credible witness. Also, it examined the taxpayer’s  investment  history, including the  quantum and timing of transactions, but found  insufficient evidence  to tie the FC to the BNS shares as a hedge. As such, the loss was determined to be on account of income