Introduction to Website Hero Sections
We all love a good superhero movie. Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, DC, Marvel, and on and on. When I was a kid I would trust those superheroes to guide so many decisions in my life. My vocabulary, actions, behaviors, fears, and more were guided by superheroes because they provided me with a level of confidence and trust. I even wore Batman underwear, but that was mainly because I thought he was that cool. When it comes to marketing your business, you need to set the same level of confidence and trust with your clients and customers. This is especially true on your website. One of the best ways we can establish that confidence and trust is with a strong Hero section at the top of a website.
Why is a Website Hero Section so Important?
Your website’s hero section is one of the most important aspects of your site. It’s where you make your first impression and where you can showcase what makes your business unique. Your website hero section should be visually appealing and easy to navigate. It should also be clear what your business does and what services or products you offer. It’s a quick, visual, and effective way to make a big statement about what your website and your businesses are really all about. It’s also a great way to tie in and hone in on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
It’s a big piece of prime website real estate at the top of the site to start showcasing what your business and brand are all about. Take a restaurant website for example. With their hero section they can include the visuals and text needed to showcase that they are an Italian or Mexican restaurant quickly and easily. It sets the tone for the rest of the site. It sets the anticipation of what’s to be expected when doing business with the website. If I go to a restaurant website and see taco’s and tortilla chips and salsa I’m not anticipating Italian cuisine.
The anatomy of a great website hero section
There are two main things that I liketo focus on when I’m planning a hero section for a website. The first is to plan the visuals of the section. For example, we often include a big, full width photo in the background. This provides a great chance to grab the user’s attention. Since a photo is worth 100 words, it’s a chance to start conveying the different values and promises of your brand.
There are a couple of things that can make those images really helpful. The photo you select should have plenty of whitespace around the focal point of the image. Doing so will help make sure the image will work on a wide range of screen sizes. The photo should also be at a higher resolution. Again, let’s assume we’re looking at a restaurant’s website. Seeing a slightly blurred photo of the restaurant or worse yet the food, is going to immediately put a bit of a damper on our enthusiasm to eat at that particular restaurant. If possible, the photo should include people as well. People connect to people often far more than they will to the food, product, location, vehicle or whatever else might be focused on. It’s again a great chance to start building the confidence in our brand that will help users make their decisions.
The second thing to include in your website hero is the page’s H1 tag. Each page gets one and only one H1 tag, and it should be the main keyword you are striving to rank for with that page. By including that in the header, it ensures that it will be at the very top of the page and very predominant for users. I also like to include a quick paragraph in a lot of the hero sections we design. By doing this we can again include the main keyword or a variation of it and make sure that it is very near the top of the page. We can also include a link or a Call To Action such as a large button to help draw users to our conversion point such as a contact form or store.
How to create a great website hero section
Creating a hero section on your site is actually pretty straight forward. Here are a few tips to help you create a great website hero section:
- Use WordPress and Elementor: WordPress is a popular content management system that allows you to easily create and manage your website’s content. Elementor is a powerful WordPress plugin that lets you easily create beautiful, responsive websites.
- Keep it simple: When it comes to your hero section, less is more.
In conclusion,the hero section of a website is important because it is the first thing that visitors see. It should be eye-catching and informative, and it should give visitors a good idea of what the website is about. A well-designed hero section can make a big difference in the overall success of a website. Your website hero section should provide your site and users with the confidence and courage that superheroes provide all of us when we’re kids.