6 Ways To Improve Your Website

February 20, 2009 · Filed Under Site Improvement · 1 Comment

Here are SIX simple ways that you can use to improve your site’s performance…

1. Do NOT hide your products/services behind a fancy “landing” page full of graphics and animations. Visitors get NO sense of what your site is about, or whether it can help them! And that’s a BIG problem, because a typical first-time visitor to any site is only going to invest a few seconds trying to decide if your site is relevant or not… and if you put a roadblock like a splash landing page in front of them that doesn’t even identify what the site is called, they’ll often not bother exploring beyond it! I’m all for using attractive images, nice videos, and appealing graphics on your website, but only when they’re used appropriately, and NOT at the expense of your sales!

2. Make sure your site design clearly reflects your business or product Again, remember that your first-time visitors are looking for clues that will reassure them — right away — that they’re in the right place. If, even at first glance, they feel they’ve landed on a site that isn’t offering the information they need, they’ll often just leave again, rather than spend the time exploring further to see if it’s relevant or not. For example, I was searching for a new headset with a built-in microphone. I hit on a site that the landing (splash) page header graphic was cherubs and pink hearts. Maybe it was setup for a Valantine’s Day special. I scrolled down the page past the fold and all I saw was greeting card prose. I didn’t stay on the site to find out if there actually were headsets. DO NOT let your emotions dictate your site design. If your site is for marketing, then get your message out there first and clear. Read more

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