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Does the Home Page Still Matter?

9/8/2010

9 Comments

 
So I have just spent my entire Labor Day weekend building this new Web site, complete with a welcoming home page and all the requisite others needed to demonstrate my having a digital portfolio – only to read a June 2008 article as I write this initial blog posting that poses this question: Does the home page matter anymore?

In his article in Razorfish and titled "A Look at Key Emerging Media Trends," Jeremy Lockhorn, an emerging media expert, focuses on four ideas concerning the tremendous impact of interactive media: The Web is Everywhere, Out of Home Has Gone Digital, The Return of Personalization and It's a Wide World of Widgets (After All).

"There seems to be a widget" – now we're talking apps, of course, because this is 2010 – "for just about everything under the sun, and more are on the way," Lockhorn writes. "There are many keys to building a successful widget but chief among them is to provide value to the audience. This isn't about cramming your entire site into a tiny space; it's about figuring out what unique and relevant piece of value you have to offer and crafting something around that."

Lockhorn adds: "To do this right, you need to understand your audience, what social environments they participate in online and why exactly they're there. People sometimes maintain multiple profiles on a single network for different personas, a professional profile and a party profile, for example. Sometimes they use different sites for different reasons. This proliferation of different personalities means you must understand the audience and how they're using a specific environment. Further, it's not enough to just insert a brand message; you must bring more value, ask the audience to participate and give them the tools to share."

I'm headed soon to a meeting with my colleagues in which we will discuss how we might better communicate among ourselves (faculty and staff), our primary customers (current and future students), our valued consultants (alumni and parents) and other partners and supporters (the rest of the university). It remains to be seen how far we are behind and or how quickly we can move to be not just current, but truly distinctive, digital and diverse.

I know this much: many of my colleagues see the need to grab hold of the latest media to emerge. I look forward to working with them and to learning a lot from my two graduate courses, Craft of Digital Storytelling and Emerging Media. It is the latter for which I will posting to this blog at least once weekly as a course assignment.

Here's hoping that as the semester progresses and Apple releases its latest version of iLife – someone told me today it will enable us mere mortals all to develop iPad apps – that my Web site, whether this one or yet another one that I create over some weekend, demonstrates that I am keeping abreast of emerging media.

Oh yes, to answer Lockhorn's question above, I contend that just as a book will always need a great cover – either on a bookstore bookshelf or in iBooks in iTunes – the home page will still matter for any Web-based presentation.
9 Comments
Caitlin link
9/9/2010 09:01:16 pm

I love your website! I look forward to reading more! See you next week.

Reply
new Jordans link
1/11/2011 05:55:40 pm

Life is measured by thought and action, not by time

Reply
Colleen Herrmann link
1/20/2011 02:51:49 am

I agree with you that the home page of a website will continue to matter and effect the viewers who frequent the page. Without a home page, main logo and familiar design viewers will not recognize your site or personal brand.

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Mark Strotman
1/20/2011 11:18:50 am

I tend to think a home page does little for a page other than familiarity. But then again, the people who are familiar with it won't need something to help them recognize or recollect the website.

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Jodi Denk
1/23/2011 01:38:36 am

I liked how you put it--that the homepage is like the cover of a book. It is what catches someone's attention and also allows them to associate that image with the content that lies inside. I think a homepage is useful and essential because it allows your audience to associate your website with who you are.

Reply
Joshua Arter
1/23/2011 10:06:53 am

To be completely honest, when we were assigned to build our own Weebly site, I was at a loss as to what I should put on my home page!

Reply
Ashley De La Torre
1/24/2011 04:15:51 am

I agree with Joshua, I was not sure what to put on the home page. I do believe that the home page is still important especially for sites such as NBA.com or ESPN.com where the homepage reveals information on top stories viewers want to see. On home pages like those, people get the information fast without having to navigate through the whole site. I also believe the importance of a homepage and how it is presented depends on the type of website it is.

Reply
Trey
1/24/2011 01:45:29 pm

I agree with Ashley and Joshua that for sites with such massive amounts of information stored, a homepage is essential, but for smaller more one-dimensional sites it may have lesser value.

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Becca French
8/31/2011 12:18:15 pm

I agree that a website it nothing without a home page, simply because then there is always that "index" to which you can revert back. Without that presentation of what the site has to offer, the consumer might ultimately miss what is contained in the site and what they can do with it. However, I will agree that when it comes to apps and widgets, they are their own entity and unless they are complex, a homepage might not always be required.

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    My journalism DNA remains strong as I learn and teach new ways to tell and present stories, especially via digital and social media. This blog is where I share what happens in my classroom and my life and, from time to time, offer my views on current events. I appreciate your feedback – either as comments herein or in an email to herbert.lowe [at] marquette [dot] edu.

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