That's pretty common, actually. Every day I see sites that are driving their customers away in massive numbers -- and losing 1000s of dollars in sales each month -- because they're committing the same "fatal" web design mistakes over and over. What are those fatal web design mistakes? Read on to find out -- and learn how you can avoid them!
ERROR #1: Hiding the most important information from your visitors when people arrive on your website, you've got less than 10 SECONDS to prove you have the exact solution they're looking for.Make sure you put ALL your most important information in the first fold of your homepage. This includes your headline (stating the biggest benefit of your product), your sub-headline (stating the second biggest benefit), your opt-in offer, and your navigation menu.If you waste your visitors' time -- even for a second -- I guarantee the vast majority of them will leave your site and never come back. So much for making any sales!
ERROR #2: Including too many links on your site studies show that anywhere from 30% to 60% of your visitors drop off with every click you make them take. Yikes! Your visitors should be able to find all the information they're looking for right on your homepage. Make sure your homepage includes your FULL sales message -- complete with benefits, testimonials, compelling bonuses, an iron-clad guarantee and a strong call to action that sends visitors straight to your order form!
ERROR #3: Confusing visitors with inconsistent site navigation imagine you're driving through town when you suddenly come upon a green stop sign. You'd have to think twice about what it meant, wouldn't you? Navigation menus on websites are just like traffic signs on the road. They have to be consistent to be effective. Make sure your navigation menu is exactly the same -- the same color, the same size, and in the same location -- on EVERY page of your site. After all, if your navigation ends up confusing people, they'll just leave... never to return!
ERROR #4: Driving away traffic with distracting links and banners. Don't drive potential buyers away from your site -- and to someone else's site -- by placing too many banners and ad links on your page. I'm talking about things like Amazon or AdSense ads. Sure, they can be effective when placed on a blog or straight-up content site where you're not working hard to get visitors to buy your main product. But visitors to your main sales page should be thinking about only one offer -- YOURS!
For example, imagine you sell an eBook about dog training. Don't post a link to Amazon.com at the top of your homepage! Amazon has HUGE credibility, so most visitors looking for dog training information will go to Amazon, rather than buy from you.
ERROR #5: Wasting people's time with slow loading pages and graphics. Remember, you've got just 10 seconds to capture people's attention. If your homepage takes half that time just to load, your visitors will lose patience and go somewhere else.To speed up your loading time, reduce the file size of your graphics, substitute colored text for graphics when possible, and limit the number of files you have for your site.
You can find out how long it takes for your site to download by using a great FREE tool called "The Web Page Analyzer" at www.WebsiteOptimization.com/services/analyze.
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