What must be on my landing page?

Question

What should I include on my landing page to invite users to "come on in"?

I'm creating an website with these features:

1. Regularly (several times/month) updated content, always available to everyone
2. Newsletter with new info and links back to the website
3. Members can use a service available on the website
4. Premium service for subscribers
5. Product recommendations that link to buying sources (Amazon, etc)

Answer 1

Think about what your users will want to get out of the site, and what you want them to do with it, and make those things big, clear and obvious on the homepage. Make them stand out (in a tasteful way), and use "calls to action" that encourage people to interact with them.

For example:

• Sites for software packages should have a 'Download' or 'Buy' link in a prominent place.
• Sites that sell things should have featured products and obvious 'add to cart' links.
• Sites for bands make it easy to listen to the band's music or watch videos.

In summary, the easier you make it for someone to find what they need (and what they came to your site for), the more likely they are to do it.