I recently spent a little time surfing the web looking at
general web marketing and promotion sites and was somewhat
surprised at how many were making what I consider, basic design
mistakes. How many of the following apply to YOUR site?
Difficult to see from the top half of the page (ie, that part
that first comes into view in my browser window) exactly what it
is that the site is meant to be promoting.
- if it is not clear from what can be seen in the browser window
the average visitor will move on.
- some sites were so full of banners, news headlines and various
other links that it was impossible to know what they were
offering. Some were in fact offering marketing services, some
provision of news services, while others were even offering web
design services - no thank you!
At the top of your home page should be a headline/paragraph
which answers the visitors most important question "What's in it
for me?" What is this site offering that will improve my
business? Make my life easier? Earn me some money? Provide the
answer to my question?
Loads slowly - if visitors have to wait too long for the site to
download, the chances are that they will close the page and move
on. If you must have lots of graphics on your site, use a gif
optimisation tool.
Flash presentations - they are great if you are doing an offline
presentation to a captive audience, or if your visitors are
coming to your site for a specific reason - but if you are
hoping to catch the casual visitor, don't bother - or at least
offer them the opportunity to be able to skip the presentation.
No e-mail address (or at least very difficult to find) - what do
you have to hide? - Why do you not want anyone to contact you? I
appreciate that publishing an e-mail address, leaves you open to
the possibility of spammers, but it just might bring you some
customers!
No "about us" page. It helps to build confidence if there is a
small section detailing the names of who runs the site, perhaps
with a small biography and even a photo! Let your visitors know
that they are dealing with a real live human being who has
enough confidence in their site to be proud to put their
personal details on it.
No contact details. As with the above, at the very least you
should show a company name and mailing address, together with an
email address and possibly a contact telephone number.
So to summarise:-
Tell your visitors clearly and quickly what your site is about,
with a fast loading front page that has a clear benefit
statement at or near the top, answering the question "What's in
it for me?"
Have a means for your visitor to contact you easily - they may
wish to buy from you!
Build visitors confidence by telling them who you are, where
you are from and a little about your previous business
experience.
I have to go now and check my site - ensure that YOU check
YOURS!!
About the author:
Tony Murtagh has spent all his career involved in sales, sales
management, marketing and PR. He is now sharing his wide
experience of sales, marketing and promotion in his web site: -
http://DevelopYourWebSiteAndYourself.com
mailto://murtagh@DevelopYourWebSiteAndYourself.com and in a
weekly e-ezine Aardvark Marketing, which you can subscribe to
from the site, or
mailto:murtagh@bigfoot.com?subject=subscribe_dvl
