You get about ten seconds. A visitor arrives, glances, and decides whether this lab is active, interesting, and worth their time. The homepage’s entire job is to survive that glance and hand the visitor to the right page.
The three jobs of a homepage
- Say who you are and what you study, in plain words.
- Show one great photograph.
- Point people toward what they came for.
That is the whole assignment. Everything else on the homepage is optional; most of it is clutter.
The formula
Your group’s name. One sentence, in plain language, saying what you study. A short paragraph on why it matters. A good photo of your actual lab or group. Clear paths to research, people, and join us.
The one sentence is the hard part, and it is worth real effort. Compare:
“We investigate the synthesis and characterization of stimuli-responsive polymeric materials.”
“We build plastics that can heal themselves when damaged.”
Both are true. Only one makes a college senior want to keep reading. Save the precision for the research page and the publications — the homepage’s job is to earn the next click, not to survive peer review.
What to leave off
- Walls of text. If the homepage scrolls and scrolls, move the material to the page where it belongs.
- Your latest abstract. Nobody’s first question is answered by an abstract.
- A hand-updated news section. If your theme can automatically show your latest posts, fine. A manually maintained “Recent News” box will go stale, and stale news on a homepage is the first thing every visitor sees.
- Anything that plays, spins, or slides on its own. Motion you did not ask for is motion that annoys.
The test
Show your homepage to someone outside your field for ten seconds, then take it away and ask what your lab does. If they can answer, the homepage works.
A homepage is a door, not a filing cabinet. Keep it open, keep it uncluttered, and let it do its one job well.