It is no secret that there are millions of sites on the Internet. One of the biggest mistakes that I see a lot of people make is that they work at driving people to their websites, but once they get there, they find nothing of interest, and quickly leave.
The first 8 seconds that a visitor is on your site are critical. It is important to quickly grab their attention, and make them want to dig deeper. The longer they stay on your site, the better chance you have of getting them to take some sort of action.
Here are a few ideas to help make people want to stay on your site:
1. Place the most important information "above the fold," or on the portion of your screen that is visible before you have to start scrolling down.
2. Break text up into bite-size pieces...remember, most people don't like to read.
3. Use pictures and graphics to grab attention.
4. Make sure your site is professional, and everything is working.
5. Use a call to action. Many people don't know what they are supposed to do when they get to your site. Politely ask, or request them to do something..."Sign up for our complimentary newsletter."
6. Get to the point...make it easy for visitors to quickly find the information that they are looking for. If your pages are too long, consider breaking them up into several pages, or at the very least use anchor tags to help navigate within the page.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Could Your Site Work Harder For You?
Traffic, traffic, traffic...if I build it they will come. With web sites, yes, they'll come, and then, in most cases they'll leave right away. The average site out there gets about 1/2 of 1 % of people that will actually take action. In other words nearly 200 people have to visit your site each month to get 1 phone call, email or purchase. If you don't believe me, look at your site statistics. If you don't have site statistics, you can get them through Google Analytics. I know that this is a crazy notion, but what if you could get just 5 people out of 200 to take some sort of action...you would theoretically grow your business between 500% - 1000%. You would go from making $100 dollars a day to anywhere from $500 - $1,000 a day. If I haven't peaked your interest by now, you might as well quite reading.
Yes, every website needs traffic, and a lot of it, but what troubles me is that people are so rapped up in getting people to the site, that they don't look at the site itself. I promise that with some easy, and free, or extremely low cost changes you'll achieve these results.
Your goal when you get a visitor to your site should be to ask for their contact information, and have them give it to you, so that you can then use that information to start a relationship with them. People do business with those that they trust. Think about it...even if you do buy something on line, chances are you were recommended by a friend, you are familiar with the reputation of the company, or you have a relationship with the business owner. Who would you be more likely to buy a new roof from on line...Home Depot, or Bob The Roofer?
The first 8 seconds on a web site are critical to a visitor. The longer you keep them on the site, the better chance you will have of getting them to take action. The following are 10 easy fixes to your web site.
1. Make sure your site looks professional. Your web site is a direct reflection of your business. Make sure that it represents your business in a professional manner.
2. Keep copy brief, quickly get to the point and break up large chunks of copy into bulleted lists.
3. Make sure that contact information is readily available.
4. Give away something of value to make people want to share their contact information. Write an e-book, offer a free consultation, or a coupon.
5. Make it easy for them to leave their contact information, and easy for them to opt out.
6. Add a call to action. Tell them what they are supposed to do.
7. Keep your site updated...give people a reason to come back.
8. Make sure your site works / looks good in every browser, including mobile devices and iPads
9. Make navigation easy for visitors to get around in your site.
10. Keep pages simple, don't annoy people with music and things that are "cute."
If you have found this information helpful, please follow our blog for more tips. Visit our website www.greenroomwebs.com and sign up for our newsletter.
Yes, every website needs traffic, and a lot of it, but what troubles me is that people are so rapped up in getting people to the site, that they don't look at the site itself. I promise that with some easy, and free, or extremely low cost changes you'll achieve these results.
Your goal when you get a visitor to your site should be to ask for their contact information, and have them give it to you, so that you can then use that information to start a relationship with them. People do business with those that they trust. Think about it...even if you do buy something on line, chances are you were recommended by a friend, you are familiar with the reputation of the company, or you have a relationship with the business owner. Who would you be more likely to buy a new roof from on line...Home Depot, or Bob The Roofer?
The first 8 seconds on a web site are critical to a visitor. The longer you keep them on the site, the better chance you will have of getting them to take action. The following are 10 easy fixes to your web site.
1. Make sure your site looks professional. Your web site is a direct reflection of your business. Make sure that it represents your business in a professional manner.
2. Keep copy brief, quickly get to the point and break up large chunks of copy into bulleted lists.
3. Make sure that contact information is readily available.
4. Give away something of value to make people want to share their contact information. Write an e-book, offer a free consultation, or a coupon.
5. Make it easy for them to leave their contact information, and easy for them to opt out.
6. Add a call to action. Tell them what they are supposed to do.
7. Keep your site updated...give people a reason to come back.
8. Make sure your site works / looks good in every browser, including mobile devices and iPads
9. Make navigation easy for visitors to get around in your site.
10. Keep pages simple, don't annoy people with music and things that are "cute."
If you have found this information helpful, please follow our blog for more tips. Visit our website www.greenroomwebs.com and sign up for our newsletter.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Make It Easy To Get From Here To There
You can't have a good web site without really good navigation. If your visitors can't move around your site easily, and quickly find what they came there to find, they will get frustrated and leave. Think for a moment about how you surf...You look for something...if you can't find it on one site in less than 8 seconds, you're surely off to the next site.
Good navigation is easy to read, doesn't use "cute" terms for common menu items, and you don't have to hunt all over the site to find it like it's Easter morning. Navigation should either run along the top of the site, or the right hand side of the site, and typically will have navigation at the bottom of the page as well. If a page is long, make sure you use anchor tags so that people can easily move down on the page, as well as "return to the top of the page."
A good rule of thumb to follow when it comes to navigation is that your visitor should never be more than 2 clicks away from the information that they are looking for.
Good navigation is easy to read, doesn't use "cute" terms for common menu items, and you don't have to hunt all over the site to find it like it's Easter morning. Navigation should either run along the top of the site, or the right hand side of the site, and typically will have navigation at the bottom of the page as well. If a page is long, make sure you use anchor tags so that people can easily move down on the page, as well as "return to the top of the page."
A good rule of thumb to follow when it comes to navigation is that your visitor should never be more than 2 clicks away from the information that they are looking for.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Just Finished My New Web Site
You'd think it would be easy to build a website for myself. After all, I do own my own web development company, and certainly have the skill set. Building my own website was one of the most painful things I've ever done.
There are so many things that you have to take into consideration when you build one, and when it is your own, you over-think everything, or at least I do.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll start talking about what goes into a great web site, and what makes a website truly terrible. As a designer, we love websites that look really cool, and use the latest gadgets, sometimes to our detriment.
Tip #1. Start by really thinking about what you want to say. There is a saying in the web world "content is king." I constantly have people ask me "how do I get my site to the top of Google?" To be completely honest, and I'm about to piss off a bunch of dishonest SEO "gurus," 90% of it starts right here. If you stay on track, you will naturally use the key words and phrases that you want to use. Think about your audience...make it simple. Keep it brief...people are busy, they just want you to get to the point. Oh, and for crying out loud, hit spell-check...and if you don't know the difference between "there, their, and they're," consult someone that does.
There are so many things that you have to take into consideration when you build one, and when it is your own, you over-think everything, or at least I do.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll start talking about what goes into a great web site, and what makes a website truly terrible. As a designer, we love websites that look really cool, and use the latest gadgets, sometimes to our detriment.
Tip #1. Start by really thinking about what you want to say. There is a saying in the web world "content is king." I constantly have people ask me "how do I get my site to the top of Google?" To be completely honest, and I'm about to piss off a bunch of dishonest SEO "gurus," 90% of it starts right here. If you stay on track, you will naturally use the key words and phrases that you want to use. Think about your audience...make it simple. Keep it brief...people are busy, they just want you to get to the point. Oh, and for crying out loud, hit spell-check...and if you don't know the difference between "there, their, and they're," consult someone that does.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)