Why Visitors Leave Websites
October 18, 2008
Ever wonder why nobody spends much time on your website? Are you scratching your head asking why doesn't my website produce any sales or leads? Prospects, clients and competitors land on your website, poke around a little bit and leave without ever performing a worthwhile action (like contact us form, request for quote, making a purchase, signing up for enewsletter, etc.). What is it about your website is preventing your visitors from becoming a converted sell or sales lead?
Here are a few things to think about and how to fix them. They sound elementary on the surface but if you spend any time on the web at all, you have run across plenty of sites that fall short in these fundamental areas...maybe your own.
DESIGN
It matters. A lot. Your website is an extension of your store, headquarters, office, employees and brand. In some industries, your customers might see your website more often than they see your physical office. Why spend a bazillion dollars on beautiful office space, furniture, etc. and have a website that is an eyesore? If you are going to have a poorly designed website, why not wear blue jean cutoffs and tshirts to work? When you think about it on those terms, its not hard to understand why your site needs to look good.
So, how do you address getting a well designed website? Its actually pretty easy...hire a talented WEB designer. Take a long hard look at their web design portfolio and see if the sites they produce are aesthetically on target. Word to the wise, don't hire a print designer or a programmer that attempts to design. Web design is truly its own art form and a lot of consideration goes into color schemes, use of space and where to do what on a given page. A professionally designed website can go a long ways towards making a positive impact on a potential or current client.
NAVIGATION
Sounds simple enough but have you ever ended up on a website and gotten frustrated because you have a hard time finding your way around the site? Sure you have because there are thousands upon thousands of sites with poorly strategized navigation. Once you get into the site, you need Lewis & Clark to find your way around. A quick way to lose a prospective customer is to get frustrated with your site because they can't understand where to go or how to get there.
Almost all web projects start with a paper sitemap but those only go so far in gathering an understanding of how a user might navigate your site. Once the site is in early development, we highly encourage a group of beta testers that are completely independent of the project to jump on the site and see if they can figure out how to get around. You should also assess if the most important things a visitor needs to do on the site are properly represented in the navigation. Getting someone to go to your monthly special and potentially purchase the item is far more important than getting them to your terms & conditions page where if they are completely bored, they can read that exciting content. They should not have the same emphasis in the navigation as they aren't equally important.
Ensure your website strategy has a clear, concise navigation strategy. A custom 404 page not found message with a sitemap or direct link back to previous page are also very helpful to your visitors. Putting a little extra effort into making sure your site is user friendly and easy to navigate can make a big difference in the usability of your website.
CONTENT
What you say and how you say it on the web can be a deal breaker in terms of making your visitors want to hang around. Most everyone has heard the buzz phrase "content is king" during the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon. But like design and navigation mentioned previously, this too often gets ignored in terms of importance. There is a fine line of offering just the right amount of content to let visitors know who you are, what you do, etc. and offering way too much or too little to make them interested in doing business with you. And please don't waste your customer's time if you don't plan to keep your content updated. Stale content can be has harmful as no content in some cases.
And of course...content plays a HUGE role in search engine optimization. The integration of key words and phrases into your website will go a long ways to improving your organic search rankings.
Website visitors want access to simple, fast, accurate and current content. Most web design firms today offer a content management system (CMS) that allow you to keep content updated as you see fit. In order to be effective, content needs to be compelling and appealing to entice a visitor read on and/or do business with you it. Web content is part informational, part marketing. Without being overly clever or mind numbingly boring, your website copy should convey your message and make that visitor want to take the next step in conducting business with your company.
WRAP IT UP
As previously mentioned, these are pretty basic elementary things that all websites should do, but somehow don't. A good fix for all these items is to hire a qualified, professional web design and development firm. They can help lead you through these processes through their project methodology and make sure you hit the target for an effective web presence. Price might be a factor on the front end but if you don't invest in a well designed, well organized, content rich site, there no telling how much potential business you lose.
And save yourself the headaches of trying to go the cheap route by using your secretaries' nephews' girlfriend to do the site in their spare time. Can't begin to tell you how many clients FLEX360 has landed because of the painful experience deals like that caused. Don't give us the opportunity to say "I told you so".
Spend some time researching qualified, talented, capable web design outfits and make a smart investment in your website. In today's business environment, the company website is an influential extension of your brand. Give potential customers a site worth visiting and sticking around long enough to become a sales lead or purchasers of your goods and/or services.
