diff --git a/README b/README
index 7ca01e4..926d080 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -65,8 +65,11 @@ Setup instructions:
    "Submit Layer" feature within the interface itself (easiest) or the
    admin interface to do this.
 
-5. You may wish to customise templates/layerindex/about.html to suit
-   your installation.
+5. You may wish to customise some of the page templates to suit your
+   installation, in particular:
+   * templates/base.html
+   * templates/layerindex/frontpage.html
+   * templates/layerindex/about.html
 
 
 Usage
diff --git a/layerindex/static/css/additional.css b/layerindex/static/css/additional.css
index 3818a79..cd99fdd 100644
--- a/layerindex/static/css/additional.css
+++ b/layerindex/static/css/additional.css
@@ -130,3 +130,29 @@ padding: 8px;
     padding-top: 1em;
     border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);
 }
+
+.hero-evenlyspaced {
+    padding: 35px;
+}
+
+.hero-evenlyspaced h1 {
+    padding-bottom: 0.25em;
+}
+
+.frontpage-button-group {
+    text-align:center !important;
+    padding: 10px;
+}
+
+.frontpage-button-group a {
+    margin: 5px;
+}
+
+.branch {
+    font-weight: bold;
+}
+
+.well-frontpage {
+    background-color: white;
+    height: 100%;
+}
diff --git a/layerindex/urls.py b/layerindex/urls.py
index 02c534c..3c1c541 100644
--- a/layerindex/urls.py
+++ b/layerindex/urls.py
@@ -11,8 +11,12 @@ from layerindex.views import LayerListView, LayerReviewListView, LayerReviewDeta
 
 urlpatterns = patterns('',
     url(r'^$',
+        TemplateView.as_view(
+            template_name='layerindex/frontpage.html'),
+            name='frontpage'),
+    url(r'^layers/$',
         LayerListView.as_view(
-            template_name='layerindex/index.html'),
+            template_name='layerindex/layers.html'),
             name='layer_list'),
     url(r'^submit/$', edit_layer_view, {'template_name': 'layerindex/submitlayer.html'}, name="submit_layer"),
     url(r'^edit/(?P<slug>[-\w]+)/$', edit_layer_view, {'template_name': 'layerindex/editlayer.html'}, name="edit_layer"),
diff --git a/templates/404.html b/templates/404.html
index 90ee64c..843d5bc 100644
--- a/templates/404.html
+++ b/templates/404.html
@@ -18,9 +18,11 @@
 {% block content %}
 {% autoescape on %}
 
+<h1>Page not found</h1>
+
 <p>The page you requested was not found.</p>
 
-<p><a href="{% url layer_list %}">Return to the index</a></p>
+<p><a href="{% url frontpage %}">Return to the front page</a></p>
 
 {% endautoescape %}
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/templates/base.html b/templates/base.html
index 846a5c8..8954b43 100644
--- a/templates/base.html
+++ b/templates/base.html
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     <div class="navbar navbar-fixed-top">
         <div class="navbar-inner">
             <div class="container">
-                <a class="brand" href="{% url layer_list %}">OpenEmbedded metadata index</a>
+                <a class="brand" href="{% url frontpage %}">OpenEmbedded metadata index</a>
 
                 <ul class="nav">
                     {% block branch_selector %}
diff --git a/templates/layerindex/frontpage.html b/templates/layerindex/frontpage.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2911abc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/layerindex/frontpage.html
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+{% extends "base.html" %}
+{% load i18n %}
+{% load static %}
+
+{% comment %}
+
+  layerindex-web - front page template
+
+  Copyright (C) 2013 Intel Corporation
+  Licensed under the MIT license, see COPYING.MIT for details
+
+{% endcomment %}
+
+
+<!--
+{% block title_append %}{% endblock %}
+-->
+
+{% block content %}
+{% autoescape on %}
+
+<div class="hero-unit hero-evenlyspaced">
+    <h1>Welcome!</h1>
+    <p>Welcome to the OpenEmbedded metadata index. Here you can find metadata (layers, recipes and machines)
+       provided by members of the OpenEmbedded / Yocto Project community for use on top of OpenEmbedded-Core
+       and compatible systems.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="row">
+    <div class="span8">
+        <div class="well well-frontpage">
+            <h2>Finding what you need</h2>
+            <p>You can browse or search by layer, by recipe or by machine.</p>
+            <div class="frontpage-button-group">
+                <a href="{% url layer_list %}" class="btn btn-large btn-primary">Layers</a>
+                <a href="{% url recipe_search %}" class="btn btn-large btn-primary">Recipes</a>
+                <a href="{% url machine_search %}" class="btn btn-large btn-primary">Machines</a>
+            </div>
+            <p><small>Note that you are currently viewing
+            {% if current_branch = 'master' %}
+            the <span class="branch">master</span> branch - the latest development version of the code.
+            {% else %}
+            the <span class="branch">{{ current_branch }}</span> branch.
+            {% endif %}
+            You can change between master and release branches at any time using the branch selector on the bar at the top of the page.</small></p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <div class="span4">
+        <div class="well well-frontpage">
+            <h2>Questions?</h2>
+            <p>Got some questions about layers or this website? See the <a href="http://www.openembedded.org/Layers_FAQ">FAQ</a>.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+</div>
+
+{% endautoescape %}
+
+{% endblock %}
+
+
diff --git a/templates/layerindex/index.html b/templates/layerindex/layers.html
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/layerindex/index.html
rename to templates/layerindex/layers.html