Do you need a “Home” button on your website?
The answer may be unsatisfying: it depends entirely on your audience. But, chances are you probably don’t.
First, let it be addressed; for a majority of websites, there must be a path ‘home’ but, where the debate rages regards exactly what that path should be.
Fundamental Usability
There shouldn’t be any information on the home page that isn’t accessible from anywhere within the rest of the website. If I walk into the entrance of a mall and head to a particular store, once I leave said store, do I really need to go back to the mall entrance (home page) to find the next one? No, I’m going to use the mall directory (aka, the navigation) to get to my next destination.
There is a lot of conversation in the web design world about whether a ‘Home’ button is even necessary anymore. Most people who use the Internet know by now that they can click the logo to be returned to the home page. And increasingly you’ll find that a lot of larger companies have done away with it: Newegg.com, walmart.com, apple.com, etc. I doubt that this was simply an oversight. Companies this large don’t make arbitrary changes to their flagship sites’ navigation. So follow the lead dogs and ditch the idea of featuring a “Home” link as the most important one on your site
The Logo
On the majority of websites the logo serves as a link back to the homepage. Many users have come to expect this interaction. In fact, if your logo does not return the user to the homepage they are more likely to become confused than anything else. This has become a required interaction in modern day web design.
Why all the home button hate.
Simple: the home button takes up a lot of valuable real estate on the navigation. Why would you have something cluttering up an already cluttered navigation system if you don’t have to?
So, when do you need a home button?
One of the most important rules of web design is “know your audience.” If the bulk of your audience is not very familiar with using the web, then a homepage button may be the right course of action in order to add clarity.
