Anatomy of a Home Page

Brand Consistency: First and Foremost

Of all the messages a home page must communicate, brand may be the most important. "There are two types of people who come to your home page: people who know your brand and people who don't," asserts Fahrland.

Beyond communicating to users that they've reached the right place, a clear brand message helps establish their trust in the site itself. Fahrland notes this is particularly important for small catalogers with lesser-known brands—they need to immediately convince users that the site, and by extension the company, is a reliable one.