Why do we decorate our doorways with items like wreaths and doormats? It’s to give our guests a warm welcome. It’s the first impression they have of our home before they enter it, so we want to get it right.
The same goes for your funeral home’s website. Your homepage is often the first interaction a family has with your funeral home. If it doesn’t make a lasting impression, they’ll leave your website without exploring other pages and won’t ever make it through your doors.
To make sure your families stay on your website, put what matters most front and center. Not sure if your current content makes the cut? Let’s go over the must-haves.
Make Sure Your Obituaries Are Easy to Find on Your Homepage.
The main reason many people come to your funeral home’s website is to find a loved one’s obituary and see the service information. To make sure they can easily find them, you should include a quick link to them on your homepage. Here, they can view the most recent obituaries and click the link to visit your obituary page to view more.
Depending on your website’s design, having them toward the top of the page is preferred. This way, it’s the first thing families see, and they won’t have to scroll and click to find them.
Add Your Contact Information So Families Know How to Reach You.
Your families want your contact information to be easy to find or else they may go elsewhere. According to KoMarketing, 64% of website visitors want you to put your contact information on your homepage.
A common practice is to include your most frequently used contact information, like your phone number and/or email, in the header or footer of your website. That way, no matter what webpage they’re on, they’ll always be able to find it.
To not overcrowd your header or footer, you can include the rest of your contact information on your contact us page. Along with your phone number and email, these are some other important methods of contact to include:
- Your funeral home’s address
- Contact form for requesting more information or submitting questions
- Links to your firm’s social media pages
- Phone numbers and emails for reaching specific people
Showcase Your Funeral Home’s Mission and Values on Your Homepage.
KoMarketing also found that 52% of website visitors want to see an about us section on a company’s homepage. By including it front and center, you’re giving them a glimpse into who your firm is right away.
This section doesn’t have to be super long. It can just give your website visitors the highlights and focus on showing them what makes you unique and why they should choose your firm. Then, you can link to your who you are page for more information.
Highlight the Products and Services You Offer.
Your homepage is the perfect place to show your families an at-a-glance preview of your main products and services. This way, they can see right away that you offer something they’re interested in. For example, if they want to choose a green burial method and you have that listed front and center, they’ll know right away you offer this service. They won’t have to dig for it or leave your website before they find it.
These are a few examples of products and services to highlight:
- Funeral types, such as traditional services and celebrations of life
- Disposition methods, such as cremation and burial
- Memorial products, such as jewelry and urns
- Pre-need and at-need planning
Link to Your General Price List (GPL) on Your Homepage.
Including your GPL on your website is an easy way to start building trust with your families right away. By pairing it with a quote builder tool, families can compare services and plan the perfect funeral service for their needs. To see how Aaron’s Low Cost Cremation had success with this, read this blog post.
Share Testimonials from Families You Served in the Past.
According to Strategic Factory, 92% of people read testimonials before making a purchase. By including one or more testimonials on your homepage, families can see real-life examples of successful funeral experiences others had with your firm. And as the statistics show, people trust reviews from others. According to Oberlo, 79% of people trust online reviews just as much as they trust recommendations from family and friends.
When choosing which testimonials to feature, make sure they fit these two categories.
- It’s a recent testimonial, preferably from the past year.
- It showcases your key service offerings and what makes you stand out from the rest.
Don’t forget to link to your testimonials page so they can read the rest of them. You also should include a form for families to submit their own reviews.
Don’t Forget to Include a Call-to-Action (CTA) – What Families Should Do Next.
An alarming number of websites lack CTAs. According to Online Marketing Coach, 70% of websites don’t have a clear CTA on their homepage.
This is one of the most important things to include. What do you want your families to do? Be as concise as possible, so your families have a clear understanding of what you want them to do next. For example, it may make sense to have a CTA for each homepage section that links to the main webpage on that subject.
Ready to update your website? Book a free 15-demo demo here to see how a FrontRunner website can help you showcase what matters most.
