Usability Counts Make it easy for them to find what they want. Consider landing pages that are directly relevant to Search terms they used to find your site. Visitors will quickly “get” that they’re in right place and can begin to move along conversion process: submit a form, contact a rep, or make a purchase.

Plan for different visitor scenarios. Do you have a good understanding of steps a “typical” visitor will take? Good navigation leads them through conversion process with clear action steps. They should always know what to click on next to accomplish their goals.

Don’t overwhelm prospects with too many options. Eliminate extraneous information: links that distract from conversion process, copy that doesn’t really say anything, and graphics that serve no function. Yes, less IS more.

Test conversion process yourself. Fill out a form. Register for membership. Make a purchase from your own shop. If it’s not painless for you, it is going to be tough for anyone coming to your site for first time. Here’s golden rule: keep it simple.

Summing it up Put your efforts into improving your conversions. Think about it. Even a small increase in your conversion rate can make a big difference to your bottom line. Then you can go ahead and target more traffic.

Barry Harrison is the author of "REDiTIPS" eMarketing Newsletter and a partner in Resolve Digital, Web Strategies for the Real World.

Design simple icons - Instead of using big, bulky images use simple and small icons that add a little color and draw attention of a visitor.

Use background images instead of big images whenever possible - Use background images whenever possible. This is usually a very useful tip for headers and footers. Instead of using an image of width 580 which is a uniform design you can use just a part of that as a background fill. This reduces size of web page as image is small. The code will look like this :