We spend a lot of time working on our website experiences but often forget where people are engaging with a company and getting information.

Given the number of devices and channels that users access, it’s an important consideration.

One easy way to start is to Google your company and see what turns up in the first 20 results. Many of these indexed properties could also be thought of as additional “home pages” for people who experience your product, company, and message.

We know that social media is not a replacement for effective marketing and it was overhyped over the last 10 years – especially by those in the social media business – but it’s also not going away. It’s still one of many effective methods of connecting with customers – especially so for B2C (Business to Consumer) customers.

You need to ensure that how people experience your company is consistent and meaningful across all of your touch points, or “home pages.” After all, if done right, home pages have the capability to drastically improve your company’s curb appeal.

Bottom line: brands now have many home pages. You likely have a website home page, a mobile home page, a tablet home page, a Facebook home page, and – depending on the business – probably another social related channel homepage such as YouTube, Twitter, Yelp, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram.

Your Other Home Pages Matter

5 years ago, WSJ reported that Starbucks and Coca Cola, two of the world’s largest consumer facing companies were getting 10x and 80X the traffic on their Facebook pages as they were their websites. It’s a crazy statistic! Without focusing on social media, these massive companies would miss out on a key opportunity.

But there are caveats to this statistic. Social channels will rise and flatline – but they are not going away. Additionally, this is an older reference and it came when social media was all the rage. The data could also be skewed because Coca-Cola and Starbucks have regional sites as well and campaign heavy sites. Their websites are one of many marketing and advertising channels.

Regardless, the key point is that each company’s Facebook home page presence could still be as important as their website homepage presence. Thus, the necessity of ensuring brand consistency and integration across different access points.

In order to represent your brand in a positive light and drive customer experience (CX), consistency is key.

Conclusion

It might seem daunting – how do you plan for all of those pages? We use a couple of key strategies that not only make it easier, but also make each of those home pages a key piece of the UX/CX puzzle:

• Do an inventory of where people are experiencing your brand and measure it. Decide what matters and what to focus on.
• Integrate your other external social “home pages” – for example, link to your website and LinkedIn page– so that your channels are connected.
• Be consistent with your brand imagery and messaging. This might require investing in a more intentional social strategy and spending more time updating your social channels.
• If you have a mobile site – and not a responsive experience – assure that that experience is consistent with your main website. Sometimes, updating a mobile site isn’t prioritized, even though 30% of your traffic could be going there.
• Strategize how content flows so that your experience and brand story are consistent.

As we stated previously, the bottom line is that brands now have many home pages. Whatever approach you take, ensuring that your people experience is consistent and meaningful is key.