Let’s say you’re looking to build a fantastic-looking website, but you have no web development experience. You could certainly outsource the job, but that costs money you may not have.

Why not do it yourself?

It may sound intimidating, but with WordPress, creating a website is easy enough that anyone can do it.

But like any great site, your WordPress page needs to start with a well-designed, inviting homepage.

Interested in getting a few website homepage ideas? Read on for a cursory glance at the importance of your WordPress homepage and how you can make it look like it was made by a professional.

Why The Homepage Matters Most

Before we begin, let’s talk about why your homepage is so important in the first place. Think of how you browse the web on a daily basis.

There’s a high likelihood that you don’t head straight to a specific page on a site, you likely head straight for the homepage. While there are some exceptions to this, namely thanks to browser history, most users will do the same. It’s likely that your homepage will get the most views on your entire site.

Imagine you’ve invited some new clients over for a business dinner. When they arrive, you’re dressed in a stained t-shirt and pajama pants. Not exactly making a great first impression, is it?

Your homepage is quite the same: it’s where visitors make their first impression of your site. You only have one chance to make a first impression with your website. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure you get it right.

Website Homepage Ideas: Step by Step

With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few basic design functions that your WordPress homepage should include. Here’s a step-by-step process of everything you’ll need to create.

Create a Mock-Up

If you’re brand new to WordPress, fooling around in the menus can prove to be intimidating. But try not to get overwhelmed and start by looking at the bigger picture.

One great way to make sure your homepage looks professional is by emulating the pros and creating a mock-up design.

What do you want your site to include? What kind of colors would you like to use? What about the text to image ratio?

Keep these questions in mind when you brainstorm your website homepage ideas. Think of this mock-up as an outline of a business proposal.

You could theoretically wing it, but you’ll be a lot more successful if you plan ahead and outline your work.

Choose a Theme

With your outline doc in place, it’s time to finally start creating your website. The most important element of your homepage design will come from your theme.

Fortunately, this is an area where WordPress excels. From the get-go, you have access to thousands of first-party and user-generated themes, so there’s no shortage of themes to choose from. Best of all, most are completely free of charge.

These themes include basic design elements like backgrounds, colors, and site shape design. Whether you’re looking for a basic design or something a bit more advanced, like parallax scrolling, there’s a theme that’s perfect for your site.

Of course, themes tend to require a bit of maintenance. So make sure you have a great care plan in place for your site through your host.

Choose a Font

Your options for WordPress customization extend beyond basic theme customization and extend into minutia like fonts.

If you’ve never designed a website before, font choice may not seem like a big deal. However, it’s crucial that you choose a font that looks both clean and professional.

Take a quick look at these font disasters if you’re still not convinced that font choices matter.

This site is, after all, representing yourself or your business. Font choices should be eye-catching without taking away from your message.

You’ll also need to double-check that your choice of font and font color don’t clash with your theme. Imagine a white homepage with a bright yellow font, for instance. Not exactly appealing, to someone trying to learn more about your site.

Balance Text and Photos

Most of your website homepage ideas will likely involve aesthetic design choices like your themes, fonts, and headers. These are all extremely important, but a good homepage serves as a compelling call-to-action.

Visitors should be able to discern your site’s purpose in a matter of seconds through your text and images.

This starts with a compelling introduction. Briefly introduce yourself, your business, or your product. Think of this intro section as a way for you to hit the highlights.

Answer the classic five Ws: who, what, when, where, why?

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Especially in today’s world where audiences are drawn to high-quality visuals. Make sure that any photos on your homepage are optimized and don’t look jagged or pixelated.

Menu Design

Your site is nearly complete! All that’s left before publishing is to add a few menus.
Depending on which theme you chose, your homepage likely has a few menus added automatically. These can be changed via the WordPress admin portal.

Try and keep your menu design as clutter-free as possible. If you feel that two pages can be condensed, condense them. Don’t risk overwhelming your audience.
Your menus need to look clean, spaced out, and sensible.

Publishing Your Page

If you’ve kept these steps in mind, your site should be ready to publish. Double check that all copy is quick and clean, and that you’re creating the best first impression possible.

Now, without further ado, let’s post your page!

Head to the admin portal again and click on your homepage. If you’re still unsure of your design choices, click the ‘Preview’ option on the right side of your screen.
Once you’re happy with the final result, save your page and click ‘Publish’.

Congratulations, your website homepage ideas have now come to life!

Let Us Make Your Website Homepage Ideas a Reality

If you’ve followed this handy guide, your site should be up and running! And now that your homepage is looking good, it’s crucial that you keep your site well maintained.

EnsureWP is your one-stop-shop for all things WordPress maintenance. With plans in every price range, you’ll never have to worry about updates again. Sign up for an account today!