does index page need content?

[homeriscool]

hi all , i just wanted to know if it is that important to have written content on index page of a website , or can i have my index page as a image with just my links to the other pages which will have the content?

thanks in advance

[KidsBeeHappy]

Does your site have thousands of good quality links, and a high PR, and several hundred thousand visitors each month?

[homeriscool]

erm a simple yes or no would have done. but no it doesnt and you know it doesnt, so why ask?

[KidsBeeHappy]

The only sites that can get away with not having any text are those with all of the above. If you check out the PR10 websites, (apart from wikipedia), then ironically most of these are just Images and Links to other pages. (See i'm not being faecitous sp?). Take a look at the Adobe sites for instance. And google itself doesn't have much text on the home page.

You need to content till you're big enough not to need to content.

I am working on one website that has no text on the home page, just images and links, and the outcome of it all is that the "news" page is the page that most people enter the site through, simply because that's the one with the most text on, and therefore the one that google gets the most juice out of. But that means that most visitors are coming in on the wrong place, and quickly bounce.

[homeriscool]

hhmmm thats just ruined my plans then, i already have my index page half designed, but i was planning on just putting my site links on it. oh well back to the drawing board.

[KidsBeeHappy]

Better now, than in 6 months time! Sorry!! And would advise against any clearly formatted text on the home page to give prominence to images over text (ie funny shading, small fonts, unusual placing etc). Because google sees that as dodgy tatics.


What does your website do?

[homeriscool]

what about if my content is below centre of my index page? so people can see the first few lines of text and then scroll down while reading. do you think google may penalise me for that? its just that i really want to show this image i have , and text all over it will ruin it.

[KidsBeeHappy]

Is the image there for you or your customers?

Is the image what you are selling? Or is the image there too look good. Is it designer indulgence?

Is the image your call to action? If not, you have to ask yourself why you are putting an image in your prime selling location and shoving your call to action off below the fold.

Customers rarely act on the basis of an image alone. And I think that if someone comes into a website and just sees an image, they quickly bounce.

You are making your customers work hard, making them scroll around to find the text, the call to action, the reason to go deeper into your website.

Why do you want to do this? Do you want to do this, or do you simply like the big image :)

[fisicx]

Totally agree with Boxby, if all you have is the image then it's most likely a vanity thing. Just because you like the image doesn't mean your visitors feel the same. Have you tested the site yet? Forget all about the layout, get them to tesrt the navigation and content - if people struggle to get off the homepage then you will know there is a problem.

[homeriscool]

fisicx (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/member.php?u=7996) http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif great and very helpful website by the way.

[TheSlackers]

Agree, it sounds more like a "Welcome to my site" type page "Click to enter". Does that give any value to the users? Nope.

[homeriscool]

Agree, it sounds more like a "Welcome to my site" type page "Click to enter". Does that give any value to the users? Nope.

agreed- crap idea really, but it DID look good. now im having a redesign. keep it simple and to the point.

[fisicx]

Another convert to the 'content is king' school I hope. I don't have a problem with nice looking sites but the eyecandy is a distraction and if the content isn't up to scratch or the navigation is confusing then your visitors will head off in the Google sunset and find someone else. I've been on some really badly designed site that looked awful but the content was pure gold so I hung on and still have them bookmarked.

[TheSlackers]

Another convert to the 'content is king' school I hope.

Rubbish, it's already been said that if you have enough quality links you can do this without a problem, many big companies do this. Links are king, they can and do trump everything. Search for "fashion" and check out top shop & asos for examples.