 Visitors
will judge your site in a few seconds on its professionalism
and appropriateness to what they are looking for.
You took the leap. You set up a
website to display your important message. Congratulations!
As in life, first impressions are important on the
web. Web researchers found that you have about 2 minutes
to make that first impression a good one. Visitors
will judge your site in those few seconds on its professionalism
and appropriateness to what they are looking for.
In fact, a website can lose about one-third of its
potential customers due to poor design, according
to a recent user study conducted by Jakob Nielson,
Ph.D., a principal of the Fremont Calif.-based Nielson
Norman Group.
Take a long hard look at your site. Or ask a friend
to give you a brutally honest review of your site.
Does it pass the test of professionalism? Are the
graphics of good quality and clear? Is the formatting,
font size and font colors consistent throughout the
site? Or does your site commit design mistakes that
speak AMATEUR as soon as it loads?
There are some common mistakes website owners make
that may cause visitors to leave early. Correct these
top 5 mistakes to make sure your visitors stay long
enough to read your important message:
Mistake#6 They post “Under Construction”
signs all over the site.
Under Construction signs posted all over the website
spell UNPROFESSIONAL in a big way. Seasoned site owners
understand the power of patience. They know that timing
the launch of your completed website is much more
effective than doing it prematurely.
Solution: Be patient. Wait until
the website is complete before publicizing your site.
Doing it this way, your visitors will be impressed
and gain trust faster. They won’t feel uneasy
and run away because they see UNPROFESSIONAL stamped
all over your site with each Under Construction sign.
Mistake #7 They place brightly colored counters
on every page as a badge of honor.
The truth is most everyone knows counters can be
set to whatever number you like. If you don’t
want to start your counter at zero, you can easily
start it at 10,000. It raises a red flag of questions.
Therefore, it may repel your visitors faster than
it attracts them. Why raise the red flag of questions,
if you don’t have to.
Solution: Need to analyze your traffic?
Look at your in-depth statistics instead.
Mistake #8 They don’t use copyright
statements.
Some uniformed site owners don’t know that
their copyright is effective the moment their creative
work is set in a fixed form. So they fail to put their
stamp of ownership on their work.
Solution: If you truly own your
work, claim it. Post your copyright information at
the bottom of every page.
Mistake #9 They write boring, long and sometimes
complicated copy.
It slows your visitor’s reading to a standstill
if they can’t quickly understand your copy (the
words on your website.) Trust me; your visitor will
not stop and get a dictionary if they can’t
understand something. They will leave quickly.
Solution: Invest time into getting
your copy right. Keep it simple. Get rid of passive
verbs and too many adverbs that rob your copy of power.
Use compelling words in short sentences full of action.
Mistake #10 They fail to identify the benefits
of their products and services.
Most visitors don’t automatically know what
your product or service can do for them. The ‘What’s
in it for me’ is what drives most of us. If
that question is not answered quickly, we may leave
before we discover you have exactly what we’ve
been looking for.
Solution: Make it easy for your
visitor. Place your best benefits in your headlines,
links and even picture tags.
Mistake #11 They forget to ask the visitor
to do something.
Beginner site owners leave money on the table by
not asking their visitor to take specific action.
They don’t consider their visitor may be distracted,
busy or dormant to any desire for their product.
Solution: Write marketing with the
idea of what you want to happen after they have read
your copy. What do you want your visitor to do? Write
with the conviction that your prospect will do something
after reading—click through to the sales page,
contact you for more information, pick up the phone
and order.
Don’t forget the power of direct commands.
Be specific in your directives. Stop right now and
fill in this coupon. Send for this ezine before you
forget. People love easy steps. They don’t have
to decide. The work of deciding what to do is already
done.
First impressions are important on the web. Follow
the simple design techniques above and stop turning
your visitors away at the door. Use your first few
seconds to impress your visitors with simple design
that delivers your powerful message effectively.
For
more insightful web site marketing tips
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