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Quote:I believe the traditional concept of a homepage still has value in the expanding web. The value now occurs at a different point in the buying cycle. Not long ago people would do their research then go to a website to learn more about the company, the company's products, so on and so forth.

Now people are doing the bulk of their buying research online. Search and offer-specific entry pages have to be simpler than traditional homepages because visitors aren't going to spend a lot of time figuring out where to go to do what they want to do. People entering a site via an offer or search query are essentially entering a site via a different mnemonic brand than what is traditionally recognized as a brand. Their purpose and goal is completely different from that of visitors coming in through the front door. Their mindset is more akin to the person at a fast-food drive-thru window. They're too busy to get out of the car. Their goal is to quickly get something they know they want and be on their way because they have other things to do. Specifically, things they place more value on than spending time with you and your site...

full article: http://imediaconnection.com/content/15839.asp

A related article:

Quote:Site visitors are decreasingly entering via the homepage and instead are entering through other entry points, such as responding to an offer or following a search inquiry...

But is the homepage dying a slow death? We reached out to industry experts and asked if homepages are still important. And how can brands approach site design and messaging differently to leverage new site access patterns?

Whether they liken the homepage experience to a book, a restaurant, a game of tag or a date, our contributors have a lot to say on the subject...

full article: http://imediaconnection.com/content/15903.asp

Bolding is mine.

Quote: Our largest and most well-known media clients now see more than 50 percent of their traffic originating from outside their domain (i.e., the content that is contained in search engines, blogs, et cetera). This is a far cry from a few years ago, when 75 to 80 percent of traffic originated at their homepage. In response, we�ve helped our clients gear their site designs to welcome consumers at a specific video page or at a specific article page rather than relying on the homepage, which helps drive traffic deeper into their site.

Garrick Schmitt is vice president of user experience at Avenue A | Razorfish. Read full bio.

Simplifying homepages down to the core elements and providing intuitive, visually appealing paths to additional information contained within the site helps reduce confusion and increases consumer engagement

But how do you gear a site  design to welcome consumers on any page on which they happen to land? Do you in essence, create "home pages" for each category or possible entry point?



I see the home page as similar to the cover of a book. I always look at home pages.

Quote:I see the home page as similar to the cover of a book. I always look at home pages.

I look at the home page the first time I visit a site but there are some sites whose home pages I rarely visit.  I avoided eBay's home page when I was selling there.

edit:

Quote:websutes [X]

Mandy, WTF is a websute? :twistedevil:

Quote:Quote
websutes [X]

Mandy, WTF is a websute? twistedevil

[quote author=BellisimaJ. link=topic=14999.msg62382#msg62382 date=1185323486]

Quote:Quote
websutes [X]

Mandy, WTF is a websute? twistedevil

[/quote]

There are 12,500 other typing challenged idiots out there
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-25,GGGL:en&q=websute