Your Welcome Statement
We recommend a short intro statement, maybe just a couple of short sentences. Something engaging about your store that returning customers can bleep right over, but is a nice intro for new customers.
If you want to say more, just put a (Read more…) link after the welcome text that goes to your About Us page.
Photographs of people
Consider including a picture or pictures of kids having fun at the store, playing with toys, or just being happy. You can get great pictures of kids and toys from some manufacturers, like Bilibo and Folkmanis. Cute pictures decorate the page, but also put people in a happy frame of mind. If you see someone smile, you smile back; it’s instinctive.
Think of it as having a person on the cover of your ‘magazine.’ Are they happy and engaging shots, or posed and stiff? People respond to people, and the feeling they get will carry over into their impression of your store.
Photographs of toys
If you don’t want to have people pictures on your site, a big toy on your homepage can look quite good.
Also, there are more than 20,000 big images in the STN database. You could change change your homepage toy seasonally… or daily.
Some key items which can work well on a Home Page:
- Toys recommended by the staff – “Staff Picks”
- Best selling toys
- Lead for a topical story. A community event you support, or an article about US-made toys, or a local toymaker, etc. Think of things that will make the shopper say, “Wow, this is a COOL STORE!”
- Special promo offer (e.g. free shipping on all orders over $100, join our newsletter, get $ off your first order, etc. etc
- Photo of the month
- Toy of the month
- Seasonal message (e.g. Happy Valentines!). Don’t let them get stale! It’s possible to make seasonal Content Items that will turn themselves on and off by date, but you need our help to set that up to display. It won’t take long.
- Detailed toy review (maybe a review from an employee, a Mom or a Grandma?)
- “Our Newest Toy” – something you’re excited about.
- Seasonal Toys (e.g. Family Games, Water Toys, Outdoor toys, etc. etc.)
- Toy recall info (be the source for educating your shoppers).
- Birthday Club promo
- Wish list promo
- An animation or video that showcases the store or the employees. You can display your YouTube channel or a playlist on your site.
- Favorite Brands. Logos that link back to those lines in your store.