The answer is “it depends.” If you are running a media site and want multiple visits per day from users, then the latest news or opinion articles would certainly be featured. If you are running a retail e-commerce site and want to maximize sales volume from repeat customers, then you might feature new products or items on sale. But in many sectors, the choice is not that obvious.
B2B SaaS, Cloud, and Tech Websites
For example, in the technology sector selling Internet-services and software to business users at large companies. The website is a key part of a complex, multi-month buyer’s journey involving many different stakeholders and interactions. For these types of scenarios, the selection of content for the website of a B2B home page is not quite as obvious.
The good news is that everyone has an opinion about what should be on the home page – especially your employees. If I had a dollar for every phone call I get from helpful sales reps and customer support personnel who want to share their opinions on the corporate website I would be rich. Every product manager wants their solution featured. Every country manager wants their region highlighted. Every alliance manager wants their partner’s logo visible. I usually take the “higher road” by listening politely to these suggestions and thanking the employee for their input.
But these debates do beg the question – what is the best way to prioritize what content should be on the website home page? And how do you justify your selections? Ideally, you would use a data driven approach by experimenting with different home page layouts and content then watch the page traffic and navigation data to understand which is working better. However, in my experience, I see little evidence of data-driven approaches to home page design. At most companies, the selection of content seems somewhat arbitrary and driven by the discretion of the CMO and the design agency.
Most Common Content on B2B SaaS and Cloud Websites
- Product overview (3-5 key product packages with links to additional details)
- Feature descriptions (3-6 key features with links to additional details)
- Key differentiators (mission/vision statement, differentiating features)
- Customers (quotations, logos, links to case studies)
- Recent news (logos of the media publications, links to press releases)
- Upcoming events (customer seminars, trade shows, events)
- Awards and recognition (logos)
- Partners (quotations, logos, links to details)
- Works with other business software (integrations, compatibility, certifications)
- Corporate statistics (number of customers, transactions processed, countries)
- Buyer personas (value propositions and links to additional details)
- Industry sectors (value propositions and links to additional details)
- Featured content assets (links to white papers, ebooks, research studies)
