Many people turn to WordPress.com to set up a website: either one that moves the blog from the homepage to showcase work in a different way, or off the site entirely to create a brochure site for their business. Today, we’ll look at three ways to make your homepage even more awesome.

(If you’re new to WordPress.com, welcome! Here’s some information about setting up a homepage on your site.)

Create a synopsis in your sidebar

textwidget When someone lands on your homepage, you have but a few seconds to help them understand precisely what your site is about. Text Widgets are a great way to display a few sentences that describe your site or your business offering, list your address and hours of operation, or even share a customer testimonial.

To add a Text Widget, go to Appearance → Widgets to drag the Text Widget into your sidebar and customize the text it contains.

Unleash the power of social media

fblikewidgetChances are, if you’re running a business, you already have a Facebook fan page to help reach out to customers and share information on new products, sales, and perhaps even do a little customer service or support. The Facebook like widget allows your site visitors to “like” your Facebook fan page, without leaving your website.

To add a Facebook like box, go to Appearance → Widgets and drag the Facebook like box Widget into your sidebar.

Not into Facebook? Why not give Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram a whirl?

Create a Custom Menu to help visitors navigate

If you’re running a business, or if you’ve chosen a website as a tactic to showcase your work, you’ll want to create a Custom Menu to help visitors navigate to the content they’re looking for. Your business site might have a page to list services, a contact page, and/or an about pages. Artists, authors, and musicians might consider adding pages to showcase their latest compositions, including paintings, drawings, prose, poetry, or songs.

custommenu

To create a Custom Menu, head to Appearance → Menus. Not sure if your theme supports Custom Menus? Check this handy list.

When it comes to customizing your homepage, let your imagination inspire you. Looking for a bit of help in getting these and other features implemented? Our Happiness Engineers can give you a boost.