Want to know what the worst thing to say on a homepage is?

"Welcome to our homepage."

And yet, time after time, we all come across such homepages on the Internet. The reason that this is such a poor opening gambit is the fact that the visitor already knows he / she is looking at your homepage, what's the point in teaching them to suck eggs?

Your website's homepage needs to contain much more important messages than a simple welcome statement or brief history to your company. Why has someone landed on your website in the first place? What problem are they looking to solve?

What type of information do they seek? If your homepage doesn't convey that your website has the answers to these questions in the visitors' minds then it's game over - they will leave, never to return.

3 Seconds To Make The Right Impression

So how you can retain visitors and grab them as soon as they view the homepage of your website? Well, try condensing the key selling points of your business. Why are you different? Why should they do business with you as opposed to anyone else?

A lot of businesses also lose sight of the fact that their homepage should not only convey what the business is about but also what the website is about. What can visitors do on the website? What types of information can they find here?

What are the best things about the website? If you don't convey all these vital messages quickly via the homepage people will not stick around trying to find the answers themselves deeper within the site.

Put Yourself In The Shoes Of Your Customer

As with many marketing approaches the key here is to take a step back and imagine yourself as a customer viewing the homepage for the first time. What would you want to see? Perhaps client comments to instil a sense of trust. Or maybe press clippings that illustrate the profile and respectability of the company?

Whatever you decide to place on the homepage keep it snappy. Less is more. It's a clich? but it holds 100% true as far as your website's homepage is concerned.

Michael Cheney is Author of The Website Marketing BibleTM. Take the Free 7-Part Course "Internet Marketing Made Easy" and get your free sampler of 'The Bible' here: http://www.websitemarketingbible.com/marketing/