What makes for a good front page?

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For me, one of the first thing I pay attention to when designing a front page is load time. If I go to a page that has too much junk on it, I'll just close it and try to find what I'm looking for somewhere else. What makes a website's opening page good - in your opinion? I need some help with my website right now (the one currently on my profile): I can't seem to get anyone interested in going past the front page, so I need a really, really good front page.