Do you judge a book by its cover?
Do you judge people’s character by the way they look?
The design of your website may be preventing potential customers from doing business with you even though it contains lots of valuable content. First impressions count. If a visitor is is not immediately impressed by the appearance of your home page he or she will go elsewhere.
7 Reasons Your Website May Be Driving Away Traffic
1. Design
I’ve encountered many website owners who have spent thousands of dollars on the design of their website only to discover it is not generating the income they expected. The site may have been built exclusively with flash so it “wows” your customer but takes too long to load and doesn’t contain useful information.
Alternatively you may have spent weeks or months designing the site yourself so it’s hard to view it objectively . It’s difficult to accept criticism from others when you’ve fallen in love with your own design.
In both cases mentioned above it’s very hard to alter your website’s design when you’ve invested so much time and/or money into it. If you leave it as is you’ll keep getting the same results and conclude internet marketing doesn’t work for you.
Get several opinions of your site’s design before deciding on the final version. It’s easier to make changes during the development stage rather than when it’s completed.
2. Poor navigation
If visitors can’t find the information they’re seeking within a few seconds of visiting your web page they’ll leave. Make sure your navigation bar leads clearly to other parts of your site. Each link should contain text that describes what page it’s linking to. Link colors should change when your mouse hovers over it. Don’t make the background color the same as the link color. Create a site map page that displays all the links to other parts of your website.
3. Lack of white space
A cluttered web page is hard to read. Create lots of white space between all elements on the page so it’s easy on your visitors’ eyes as they scan your content.
4. Slow load times
Flash banners, large images, javascript, video slow the loading of your web pages. Test the load times of your web page before finalizing it’s design. If it doesn’t load within a few seconds reduce the file size of your images or remove unnecessary elements.
5. Incorrect colors
Colors are very subjective. Colors YOU like may not agree with your visitors. Visit similar sites in your niche to get an idea what colors looks attractive. Make sure your website colors harmonize with each other. Use an online color wheel if you don’t know what color harmonizes with another. For example black text on a white background is easy to read because of contrasting colors.
6. Sloppy web copy
Many websites use generic text which only bores your visitors and drives them away. Place yourself in your visitor’s shoes to think from their viewpoint . When a person first visits your website they want to immediately read about the benefits (what in it for me?) and use clear navigation links to get more information.
Write your content in a conversational tone as if you are talking to one person not a group of people. This will make it easier to engage your visitors.
7. Most important content is not “above the fold”
Website designers often don’t think about the useability of web pages. For example if the image at the top of your web page is so large that it takes up half your visitor’s screen when they first visit your page, they may not bother to scroll past the image to read your content.
Make sure you place your most important content “above the fold” so it can be seen on a computer monitor without having to scroll vertically down the page.
Review your current site’s design. Do your web pages load fast, have an attractive appearance that is easy to read and outlines the main benefits of your business? If not create a plan to make your website user friendly so the first impression will not drive traffic away.
Related Articles
How to Avoid Sloppy Web Site Copy
Web Site Redesign – from stagnation to rejuvenation
How to Create an Effective Web Site Navigation Structure
How Poor Web Navigation in Your Site Can Ruin a Visitor’s Experience
How to Layout Your Web Pages
******************************************
Need a Business Website Designed to Attract Traffic?
Visit: Websites Designed by iSiteBuild.com
Speak Your Mind