In order to be the most effective, your website needs to give your visitors what they want, not what you want. Imagine how you would feel if you went to a restaurant to get your favorite dessert – cherry pie – but the waiter brings you chocolate mousse because it is their favorite dessert. It’s hard to believe, but very few websites are built with the end user’s preferences in mind.
Most websites are built with this kind of scenario:
- The designer likes Flash – so the site has Flash.
- The company owner likes short pages – so the pages are short.
- The marketing manager likes to collect information – so the forms are long.
- You get the idea…
The more opinions and preferences that come from the various interested parties, the more mixed-up the marketing message becomes – and the less effective your website will be. In order to convert more browsers into buyers, you must give them what they want, even if it’s not to your taste.
How do you know if your website is not giving your users what they want?
1. Low conversions: Conversions are when users take action on your site (contacting you or purchasing your product, usually). Your conversions are tracked using a mix of analytics and internal systems. Since conversions are the primary reason for nearly any site, this information is crucial.
2. High bounce rate: Bounce rate is when users come into your site on a particular page, and leave from that page – never being drawn into your site. When this happens, the page with the high bounce rate must change! Here’s a guide to help you determine your bounce rate: http://www.future-ink.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-google-analytics.
3. High incidence of customer calls requesting information or clarification about information on your site, but low phone conversions.
Effective Web Design Starts Here
Your website doesn’t have to remain ineffective! With a few tweaks you can begin seeing dramatic improvements right away. If you’re ready to improve your website’s effectiveness, give us a call today.
About the author: Jeune Ortiz is VP of Marketing and Creative Director at future-ink. With more than 20 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, Jeune brings extensive knowledge and creativity to each website and internet marketing solution to grow your business.
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2 Comments
Mckinley Franko | May 5, 2010
Hey very nice blog!!
KimWells | July 22, 2010
Kind of a side note here, I though flash was completely gone from the world of web design. Most phones can’t handle it right?