This morning, after my wife and I walked
dog, we took some time to look at flowers in our garden. The morning was still cool, but we knew that temperature was already climbing and would be somewhere in 90s today.Some yellow daisies where swaying gently in light breeze, as if to say, “look at me. Here I am.” Where they trying to catch my attention, or attention of honey bees and butterflies? Though God made flowers for us to enjoy, I suspect that they are more interested in attracting attention of insects that will help spread their pollen. The flowers need to attract attention of insects to survive.
Internet marketers that have their own website are much like flowers. They must attract attention of potential visitors and entice them to visit web site. If no visitors come then site will eventually die.
How to attract visitors to a site is what very broad subject of Internet marketing is about. Numerous articles and books have been written and are available about Internet marketing. Let’s just look at one small part of it today.
As you watch honey bees and butterflies on flowers you notice that they stay on one flower for a while, then go on to another for a while. Sometimes they stay on a flower for a very short time and sometime they stay for a fairly long time. Sometimes they come back to original flower and sometimes they do not.
The people that visit our web sites act much same. Some times they just take a quick glance and click to another site. Sometimes they stay longer and look around. It all depends on how interesting your site is. Does it have a good headline that captures their interest and makes them want to get more information? A good headline is probably most important single item on your website. Take time to create a good headline.
Is site simple to view? A site should not have text written on a background with a design. It is too hard to read and often viewer will click away instead of trying to read it.
Is it easy to read? If there is not enough contrast between background color and text color then it could be hard to read. Whenever I see a site with black letters on a dark color background I leave immediately. So do a lot of other visitors.
Does site take too long to load? Many people have very little patience these days. If site is slow to load they get tired of waiting and go to a different site.
Does your site have music? If it does be sure music is appropriate for type of visitor that you are trying to appeal to.
Ok, you’ve done things right and visitor stays around long enough to get beyond your headline. How long will you be able to keep visitor?
Is your site easy to navigate? Are buttons easy to find and understand? If visitor gets confused he can get frustrated. If he gets frustrated he is very likely to leave in favor of a new site.
Does your site have a benefits list? Most people are looking at your site because they want something. If a quick read of your site fails to show them that you can provide what they want then they are out of there. This is where a strong benefits list is important. If they see their ‘want’ in a benefits list they will read on for more details.
