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One thing I always say to business owners I meet or when presenting is that half the battle is getting visitors to your website, the rest is actually converting those visitors into leads and sales!
However, with all the new and exciting stuff there is around on the web these days, it can be very tempting to add too much to your web pages which distracts people from doing what you want them to do on your site. For example, you can add all your social networking profiles to your site, latest blog posts, your twitter stream, ads and other affiliate links, animated gifs and garish graphics – all sorts of things put visitors off and lead them to surf away. I’ve a couple of examples below of some real offenders, so you get the picture (I have to say I haven’t come across sites as bad as these in a while)!
Cinderella Wedding Photography
More bad examples on Web Pages that Suck
It’s really important that after spending valuable time promoting your website, when visitors finally arrive on your site they can actually find what they’re looking for. Keeping your design really simple is so important – the first thing visitors need to know is if they’re in the right place and is your product/service what they’re looking for. Once they’ve (hopefully) decided to stay, then lead your visitors to the relevant information so they can find it in a couple of clicks. If you sell products, make sure your navigation is easy and all your products are within 3 clicks from your home page.
Calls to action work well. Often people don’t know what you want them to do on your site, so by telling them, you’re more likely to convert those visitors into leads or sales. Tell them to contact you, lead them to your special offers, tell them where to go first and read more about your services. The easier it is for people to find what they want on your site, the more profitable your website will be!
