Landing Page/Home Page issues

[CompleteOffice]

Hi. I was speaking with my designer last night (we are setting up a new website) and we were discussing the design of our homepage, now the designer said he wanted the first page of the website to be a sort of landing page page were the visitor has to click and enter, im sure everyone has all come across these before. However, I am concerned as to the SEO implications of this?

Any help guys?

[EGOL]

...the designer said he wanted the first page of the website to be a sort of landing page page were the visitor has to click and enter...

It's always best to have a designer who understands SEO, who has experience in optimizing a site for a good conversion rate, is willing to have the site tested and kick to the curb any element that is not performing, and who seeks to first understand the objectives of your business before making any design recommendations.

Most importantly, you need a designer who understands that you own the site and make all final calls.

If you don't have that you will be pulling teeth the whole way and if you get tired of pulling teeth or encounter some that can not be extracted your biz will really suffer.

This type of designer is really rare.  Be willing to pay a lot more for this person.

[RobertFisher]

EGOL says it well regarding a designer. Unfortunately, whether its websites or interiors of homes there is something about the monicker that brings out the worst in functionality.

This is strictly an opinion, but most people want convenience when shopping. Whether for a product, a service, or information they do not want to have to walk around your art work to get to the peanut butter. They also do not want to have to find the mute button or skip intro button in order to proceed past your design distraction.

My suggestion is skip the click to enter unless the designer can show some A-B testing where they have made miraculous strides in bounce rates. I am not sure that from a search engine pov there is an issue, from a customer usability pov there is.