Make Your Website Compelling - Not Repelling!

Tuesday 28 April, 2009

by Craig Reardon

You may be turning away your website visitors before they get inside. Use this 9 point guide to effective front page content and layout to make your business website compelling - not repelling!

It's surprising how many website operators have still not cottoned-on to the fundamentals of good website design. For example, how many websites have you visited recently that provide dated information, present poor quality product shots, include a boring welcome message from the business owner or are just plain ugly? Chances are you won't remember, because you've moved off the site so quickly - and onto the site of a competitor.
The main offenders in these cases are the very front pages of websites - the very ones that are supposed to entice you to look inside.
And it's not just newer, smaller website operators that are offending. There are some household names that are turning a blind eye to what constitutes an enticing front page. So here's a guide to getting it right:

1. The front page is like a magazine cover or shop window display
   
   Two excellent analogies as to how you should treat your front page are that they should be like a magazine cover - an enticing design which clearly points out 'what's inside'.
   
   Another is that it should be like the front window of a shop - with the most representative and appealing product on display. Again, beckoning you to 'come inside'.
   
   Of course both of these analogies suggest freshness. Both magazine covers and window displays change regularly. Which provides clues as to exactly what your front page should be doing.
   
   Keep your front page fresh and ever-changing. Come up with internal procedures that ensure that fresh content is coming to your front page on a regular basis - be that new products or services, new deals or industry developments.
   
2. There for a good time - not a long time
   
   Many website owners make the critical mistake of assuming that visitors are going to spend time lingering on their website, visit every page and pore through every single word you have to say.
   
   Newsflash people! Nothing could be further from the truth!
   
   No matter how good your product, how wonderful your service and how much you've paid your web designer, nothing stops web users from flitting through websites like gnats.
   
   Research shows that visitors read around 20% of text presented in websites. That means that 80% of the wonderful copy you spent hours creating and / or supervising will be wasted. As such, you should provide the most information on the final page of the information search - not the first.
   
   Visitors 'drill down' into the information they want by 'scanning' pages rather than reading copious amounts of copy from the outset.
   
3. Complete a thorough review prior to starting
   
   One of the wonderful aspects of the Internet is that examples of the world's best and most successful websites are right there at your fingertips.
   
   So, very early in the planning phase of your site, go to the leaders in your field from around the world and take a close look at how they present their information online.
   
4. Trash the splash page
   
   Unless you have a product or service that entices a very high level of passion or interest - and have the budget to change it often - don't bother wasting your visitor's time or your hard earned cash on an annoying splash page.
   
5. What's new, What's hot, What's cheap
   
   I think a great rule of thumb to laying out your front page lies in this three part statement:
   
   
   • What's new - Allows you to include the latest products, services or deals you are offering
     
   • What's hot - The most popular products, etc. you offer
     
   • What's cheap - New deals, offers or sale items you have on at present
     
   Of course, there should be representative images of each item with links through to more information.
   
   What these categories also do, is allow you to illustrate the range of goods and / or services you provide - a kind of snapshot of what you provide. So try and bring a wide selection to the front page, as it provides a great opportunity to cross-sell either now or in future.
   
6. Don't scrimp on photography
   
   Good quality photography is one of the most overlooked aspects of a website.
   
   A poor quality image will have visitors clicking away faster than you can imagine, as they just don't tolerate the poor presentation it portrays.
   
   If professional photography is outside your budget, product manufacturers may provide it for you or you can tap into the growing library of quality clip photography where a web-quality image can cost only a few dollars.
   
   Either way, just make sure that you can get it as professional as possible.
   
7. Avoid large slabs of text
   
   As outlined above, the short attention span of website visitors means that brevity is definitely the key on the front page of your site.
   
   If there is a lot of information about a certain product or service, include it on a page within the site rather than the front page.
   
   Break down your range into bullet points which link to specific pages.
   
   You shouldn't include more that about two sentences on the front page before linking off to a more specific page.
   
8. Slogan or brief business description
   
   Again, don't assume that visitors are going to spend time getting to know you and your website.
   
   Spell out what you do upfront by clearly stating either a succinct service description or slogan right up there alongside your logo.
   
   So even if they do depart quickly, they have a clear understanding of what you do for next time.
   
9. Sign them up for your e-Newsletter
   
   Again a criminally overlooked factor. Email news is essentially free to send. Therefore, every person who signs up is another prospect who may well become your next customer or refer you to someone else who might be.
   
   But ensure there is good 'What's in it for me' (WIIFM). A plain 'sign up for our newsletter' is not enticing enough. Tell them why and tell them it's free.

Of course, every business is different, so the specific rules will vary from website to website. But prudent attention to these fundamentals will maximise the chances of visitors continuing through your site - and making that critical next step of enquiring, ordering or purchasing.

Source:ceonline.com