Your home page is the face of your brand and your digital greeting that sets the stage for all future interactions.
But B2B sites are more than just a hand shake—they’re carefully crafted products that are an essential part of a business’s overall sales strategy. Even more than consumer-focused sites, B2B pages must be functional, authoritative, and reflective of brand identity.
B2B Web Design
At its core, B2B marketing is similar to its more common B2C counterpart: Both involve demonstrating what you can do for the client, but the difference lies in the way those clients approach the buying process.
B2B buyers usually involve teams of decision makers who do far more research into their options than the average consumer. As such, B2B web design bears the burden of showcasing authority, demonstrating expertise, and outlining clear value propositions that tell buyers what to expect.
If you want prospects to continue down your sales funnel, you first have to wow them with a powerful home page experience. This involves three primary elements:
- Authority
- Usability
- Brand Style
How can each be implemented within your design?
Authority – Why Should They Buy from You?
Authority. Industry experience. Thought leadership. Why should the buyer choose your brand over a competitor?
This is the core value you must showcase on your home page by offering a clear description of what your brand can do. On your home page, this means creating a high-impact value statement placed front and center. The first thing your prospects’ eyes should see is a headline that clearly describes the benefit of a partnership with your business. Check out Quid or Grammarly to see examples of this concept done right.
Of course, you’ll need to supply other educational resources like case studies and articles to reinforce your claims of authority, but worry about these supplementary materials after you get your foot in the door.
Usability – A Quality User Experience
Success with your B2B web design relies on an easy user experience.
What this means for your home page is that navigation and all on-site elements should be straightforward and easy to understand. Confusing links or cluttered menus sprawled across your page won’t give prospects confidence in your business.
This is a serious problem for B2B web design, as B2B purchasing usually involves agreement among multiple decision makers and product researchers. As such, your web design needs to be simple enough to be accessible to a wide range of users. Billing site Chargify exemplifies this idea, providing a combination of drop-down menus and clickable links that keeps things simple and clean.
Brand Style – A Unique Identity
As B2B enterprise continues to develop, it’s not enough to just have a site—you must have a site that pops. The best B2B web design is a function of usability and authority that converges with a style unique to your brand.
In particular, minimalism is a growing trend in B2B web design. This is no surprise, as minimalist styles tend to reinforce the core concepts of authority and simplicity. For a creative take on this concept, check out Yapstone. This unique approach to minimalism features a wealth of information tucked within continuous scrolling that explains the brand one piece at a time.
A Power Packed Home Page
No matter what your business does or who it serves, you can’t afford to neglect your home page. As the launching pad of all future business interactions, it’s critical that each on-site element be deliberate and contribute to your larger business goal. Keep these three tenets in mind when designing your website’s home page.
