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Don't Lose Visitors
Because Of Poor
Site Design
by Tony
Murtagh
However good
your products/service, if your site is poorly
designed you will not succeed at turning visitors
into customers. The following article will help you
avoid many of the common mistakes that novice (and
expert) designers make. Whether you are going to
design the site yourself, or contract out to a
design consultant, there are several key elements to
good site design that you (or your designer) need to
work to.
The most important part of your site is the home
page - that is what your potential customers will
see when they first visit the site. If that is not
right, it doesn't matter what the remainder of the
site is like - no one will ever get to see it!
Think of your front page as the cover of a book, and
the Web as a giant bookstore. Most of the people in
the store are there to browse around for a while,
either not sure of what they want or just passing
the time away. They will not pick up the first book
they see and start reading it, but they will glance
at the book covers until one catches their eye. They
will then pick it up and look at the back cover for
further information. If that still retains their
interest, they may then actually open the book. By
this time they have probably glanced at the covers
of two or three dozen books and read the back covers
of another dozen.
They will then read a few paragraphs here and there
and then they will probably put the book back on the
shelf and continue browsing. Eventually they may buy
and read one of the many books they have glanced at.
This is like many of the browsers on the Web. They
will surf through many sites before stopping long
enough to navigate through one particular site. Even
then they will probably leave before buying
anything. It would be an achievement for you if they
go as far as adding your site to their favourites
list!
"But," I hear you all saying, "when
visitors come to my site, it is because they are
interested in the product/service/information that I
offer so they will stay."
Really? And do you believe in the Tooth Fairy as
well?
Let's go back to that bookstore. Say you were to
visit that store with the specific intention of
buying a book on Web Site Marketing, and you had an
idea of the book you wanted because a friend had
recommended it. You would go to the computer
section, find the book you were looking for and
probably pick it up and glance through it. I doubt
if you would buy it purely on your friend's
recommendation.
Now even if you did like the look of the book and
felt that it was just what you wanted, wouldn't you
at least glance at the other books in the section?
Isn't there a chance that you would pick one or two
of them up and browse through them? After all, you
do want to ensure that you buy the best and most
suitable book don't you? So even if you went to the
bookstore with the express intention of buying one
particular book, there is a possibility that you
could change your mind because you have seen
something better.
If you found that the recommended book was poorly
designed and you didn't like the way it was written,
would you still buy it? I don't think so!
So you see, even if visitors have gone to your site
because they were interested in what you have to
offer, it is by no means certain that they will stay
there, let alone buy anything!
OK, so now, I hope, you appreciate the need for good
site design.
The following pointers will help you to design a
site that your customers will find attractive and
will stay at for at least a few minutes! I would
recommend that you list these points and ensure that
they are followed - especially if you are paying
someone else to design the site for you - make sure
you get the site that will work for you - not one
that shows what clever designers they are!
Downloads Quickly - most accepted research
has shown that a visitor will only wait six to eight
seconds for a site to download - after that he will
skip on somewhere else - so don't have lots of
graphics on your home page!
Easy to Read - don't have a heavily patterned
background or lots of colours - it might look pretty
but people wont strain their eyes trying to read a
light blue text on a purple background. (If you
think I'm exaggerating, believe me, I'm not - I have
seen that on a site of a company trying to sell a
web design service - I could hardly read it so
naturally I left and have never been back!). Black
or dark blue on white is usually best for the main
body text.
Make it Clear - show your visitors exactly
what they have to do to navigate your site/obtain
information/buy goods etc. Don't leave them thinking
what to do next.
Build Confidence - they probably don't know
you, so build confidence in your site. Do this by
having an "About Us" page, contact
information, site security information (if you are
taking credit card details), testimonials, a FAQ
page if appropriate (Frequently Asked Questions).
Keep Banners to a Minimum - particularly on
your home page - people either don't like them,
ignore them, or worse still, click on them and leave
your site!
Ensure Visitors can Navigate Easily - at a
minimum, have a "top of page" link at the
bottom of every page that is longer than the visitor
can see at normal browser settings, and have a
"home page" link on every page. Don't send
visitors down a cul-de-sac with no obvious way out.
Yes, I know they can use the back button on their
browsers, but it is surprising how many people do
not and will simply exit your site if it is unclear
where to go next.
How Do I Buy? - If you are selling goods
directly from your site, make it crystal clear to
visitors how to buy.
Build up a Database of Customers - collect
their e-mail addresses (getting permission to
contact them in the future). This can be
accomplished by the use of surveys, questionnaires,
a quiz, or asking them to sign up to a newsletter.
I trust that the above tips will help you in
designing a web site that will not only look good
but, more importantly, make visitors want to look at
the remainder of your site.
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Tony Murtagh has spent all of his career involved in
sales, sales management, marketing and PR. He was a
UK National Sales Manager (Major Accounts) for a
mobile communications company, had his own
publishing company producing a monthly Business to
Business magazine and has acted as a PR consultant
for a number of small businesses. He is now sharing
his wide experience of sales, marketing and
promotion in his new web site: -
www.DevelopYourWebSiteAndYourself.com
and in a fortnightly e-ezine Aardvark Marketing,
which you can subscribe to from the site, or at http://AardvarkMarketing.listbot.com/
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