The Purpose of Homepages
Homepages are the most important interface between any website and a net Surfer / User; wherein the former guides the surfer thro’ the website as to how to find out the information the User is looking for. It is the first page of the website, which should open up with the URL or http:// link of the website, when a User logs in. The design of any website should be such that on the first log-in the ‘homepage’ should open up, which gives the detail of the website road map. It should be lucid and simple in its structure and form, so that any first time user can also get through the site smoothly. In short the homepage defines the ‘user-friendliness’ of the site; which determines the success of the very purpose of the site, since more simpler and menu-driven the ‘homepage’ is, the better would be the acceptability of the sites by the Users and more hits would imply success of the sites.
Hence designing the homepage is like structuring the index of an encyclopedia; where the search for any information begins with understanding the index first and thus knowing where to look for the desired information. Likewise, when any website is designed, the ‘homepage’ should be designed keeping in mind, what kind of Users would be searching the site, what kind of information would they be looking for, would there be any interactive or dynamic page requirement or the Users would be only specified techie users with required knowledge. Also it depends on the kind of information the site would like to share, since if the information is not adequate or accurate or not clear to any generic or normal user, then the very objective of the web page or the site would be defeated.
Thus any developer working on any website, must understand the requirement and the purpose of the website, the information it requires to carry, wherein the homepage would essentially be required to be designed likewise, to give the most effective impact as well serve the purpose of giving the most relevant information about the site with the site tour or roadmap.
Homepage for any sites is also the link between any other URL or linked sites, which guides any User directly to any other sites / locations thro’ either direct link or CGI BIN (common gateway interface binary link) protocol. Thus the homepage serves as the gateway to other linked sites, which may not have a well-defined homepages or direct URL, thereby creating a site with many portals at an economic cost.
Homepages thus truly serve as the ‘front page’ of websites, which fairly gives the first impression of the full website, wherein the broad links are specified to reach to other parts of the Website. This is the page which carries the profile of the website, the names and contacts of the owners, the purpose of the site, relevance of information provide, various details and features and direct links to other searches.
