Space in the Home Page

[getxb]

How much spacing (Space with NO content) need to be kept in the Home page and why. I was told by a colleague of mine that it should ideally be 35% of the total area of the Home page.

Thanks
Ramnath

[Seb7]

Its not so much about the physical space, but more about not having too much content on the home page. People want to find out very quickly what your website is about when they hit that first page. If its too cluttered they get frustrated and promply leave.

So keep the content down and well presented, and give a very clear message about what your website is all about. Try to avoid any stuff that they would not understand or use.

[getxb]

Ok. Now say the bulk of the visitors already know what the site is all about since its a very reputed one. The only problem is there are too many categories/subcategories/content/other things to offer. Around eighty odd links in the home page. You want to display content them as well as keep your home page clean so that one doesn't get confused and leave the site.

Looking at sites like youtube, metcafe, ebay, even WebmasterWorld it seems that there may be a rule on leaving white space as far as layout of the home page is concerned. Everyone seems to draw the attention to one particular set of content.

Whats the rule of thumb?

[Marshall]

getxb, WebmasterWorld is a good example. The key/primary areas have a white background and plenty of white space. The moment you start crowding the page, it becomes very difficult to read and viewers will leave. A web page is no different than print media. Study any popular magazine (or popular web site) to get an idea. Remember, IMHO, to cater to the larger audience, not the niche.

Marshall