Making it Personal

An interesting thread in WebmasterWorld.com about "writing the perfect home page."  Although, as often happens in such forums, there are digressions, there are also some good tips and findings.

One point that I found interesting is that having a human face on your home page (and, I suspect on other pages of your site) is something that compels viewers. Apparently there's research to prove this and I don't doubt it for one second. Having a human face on your home page adds an element of personalness (Is that a word?), especially if you're offering a service and that face is yours. If you're not in the service industry (or not a sole practitioner), you can always use a stock photo of a person on your home page to give the sense that there are human beings behind the website and also include photos of your staff, board members, etc. in the About Us page.

Having designed websites for several therapists and healing professionals, I know their clients have felt that they've had the chance to "get to know them" before actually calling or meeting them in person. Of course, well written web copy is a huge factor in this, but having your photo also plays an important role.

A lot of us are shy about putting our picture for the "whole world to see." But, as long as it's a good photo (preferably professionally taken), nobody's going to laugh at it.

Many Internet surfers feel that being on the computer and looking at websites can be a very impersonal experience. Help visitors to your site feel more comfortable by having a human face to look at.