A homepage is more than just a digital storefront—it’s a brand’s first impression, a business driver, and a critical touchpoint for engagement. When I took on the homepage redesign project for a well-established education company with a three-decade-long legacy in India and abroad, the challenge was clear: How do we create a homepage that reflects the company’s growth, aligns with its evolving business goals, and enhances user experience?
This blog post details the strategic approach, design principles, and impact of this transformation.
Defining the Why: The Objectives Behind the Redesign
Before jumping into design, the first step was to understand why we were changing the homepage. The objectives were clear:
- Representation of New Business Verticals – Over the years, the company had expanded beyond its traditional offerings into coaching programs and upskilling initiatives for new market segments. These were not properly represented on the old homepage.
- Showcasing Sister Brands – The company owned multiple brands, each targeting different audiences. The homepage needed a clearer way to represent these sister brands while maintaining the parent brand’s identity.
- Highlighting Global Expansion – In the last five years, the company had significantly expanded internationally, but the homepage still felt domestic. We needed to bring in a global perspective to appeal to international markets.
- Stronger CTAs for Student Engagement – The homepage lacked a clear call-to-action (CTA) for students to create free learning accounts and start their journey.
- Faster Program Discovery – Users struggled to find and enroll in the right programs. The new homepage needed to improve discoverability and navigation.
Approach: A Fresh Perspective with Strategic Continuity
While we took inspiration from the existing website, this was not just a facelift—it was a strategic overhaul. The company wanted the homepage to feel fresh yet familiar so that it didn’t look disconnected from the rest of the site.
Balancing Fresh Design with Existing UI
- The site was built on Bootstrap, and we leveraged its framework to maintain consistency.
- Also, due to the fact that the internal pages remained unchanged, the homepage had to fit seamlessly with the existing design feel too.
- We retained some content elements but designed new helpful widgets and ensured that there is a cleaner, modern layout.
Wireframing & Research: Laying the Foundation
As a consultant, I use PowerPoint for wireframing—a tool many might find unusual for UI/UX, but in the consulting world, PowerPoint is our home turf.
Before jumping into wireframes, I conducted reference studies across:
- Top education websites in India – To understand industry trends in the local market.
- Leading global education brands – To study how international players structure their homepage.
- Websites from other industries – To bring in fresh ideas from brands that handle UX exceptionally well.
This layered approach helped us benchmark best practices while ensuring that the redesign wasn’t just “copying competitors” but setting a new standard in the industry.
Mobile-First Design: Prioritizing User Behavior
With 60%+ of visitors accessing the site via mobile, we adopted a mobile-first approach.
Step 1: Locking in the First Fold
- The first fold (what users see without scrolling) had to capture key messages and drive CTAs.
- We designed it for both desktop and mobile, ensuring that students could instantly see options to sign up, log in, or explore programs.
Step 2: Crafting an Optimized Navigation Bar
The navigation bar (nav bar) is crucial for usability, so we designed it differently for desktop vs. mobile:
🖥 On Desktop:
- Limited space meant we prioritized essential CTAs like:
- “Sign Up” (for free learning accounts)
- “Explore Courses” (to drive enrollments)
- Quick contact information
📱 On Mobile:
- The nav bar was hidden in a hamburger menu, allowing us to include more options in a structured dropdown.
- This gave users a cleaner interface while still offering deeper navigation.
Structuring the Homepage: Prioritization by Audience Needs
A homepage isn’t just a collection of sections—it’s a storytelling flow.
- First Fold: The Essentials
- Immediate CTA for students to sign up.
- Clear brand positioning and what the company offers.
2. Second Fold: Core Offerings
- Key programs and courses with easy-to-navigate filters.
3. Third Fold: Physical Presence & Center Locator
- Many students prefer offline learning. We built an interactive widget for users to find centers easily.
4. Fourth Fold: Supporting Audiences (Working Professionals, Parents, etc.)
- The company had secondary audiences, like professionals looking to upskill. This section catered to their needs.
5. Fifth Fold: Webinars & Free Learning Sessions
- The company runs frequent free webinars. We built a dynamic filtering widget, allowing users to:
- Sort by student-focused vs. parent-focused sessions
- View sessions happening today, tomorrow, or in the upcoming week
6. Final Fold: About the Company & Sister Brands
- Highlighting global presence, achievements, and partner universities.
Boosting Ad Revenue: A Smarter Approach
The old homepage had GIF-based banner ads, but ad blindness (users ignoring flashy ads) was reducing engagement.
💡 Solution: Text-Based Native Ads
- Instead of flashy GIFs, we introduced text-based, integrated ad placements that blended seamlessly into the design.
- These looked more like helpful content rather than intrusive ads.
- This simple tweak increased CTR on ads while maintaining a clean look.
The Impact: Data-Driven Success
📈 More Student Signups – A noticeable increase in free learning account registrations.
📈 Higher CTR to Enrollment Pages – More users clicking through to select courses.
📈 Improved Scrolling Depth – More visitors reaching lower folds instead of bouncing early.
📈 Reduced Time on Page – A counterintuitive but positive metric—users found what they needed faster, reducing unnecessary browsing.
Final Thoughts
A homepage redesign isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about business impact, user experience, and brand projection.
By aligning business strategy with design thinking, we built a homepage that doesn’t just look good but also works better.
This project reaffirmed a key lesson: A great website is not just about looking modern—it’s about solving real problems efficiently.