Welcome to Your WebsiteWritten by Barry Harrison
Do visitors know what to do when they arrive at your website? Landing pages welcome visitors more effectively than your home page because they are relevant to specific Search term used. They're also better at converting visitors into customers.What is a landing page? It's entry page that you see when you click from a pay-per-click ad (or email link) to a website. Unlike your home page which has to accomplish many different goals, a good landing page responds only to specific search term or link. Successful landing pages lead to higher conversion rates and greater returns on your marketing investment. Why landing pages work. Visitors immediately “get” that content of a landing page is relevant to their search term. They don’t need to navigate to find what they’re looking for. They don’t need to think. They’re ready to move along conversion process: to submit a form, contact a rep, or make a purchase. Elements of an effective landing page. Good landing pages are simple and highly targeted. They don’t contain anything that’s not essential including general site navigation. Compelling copy should emphasize benefits of your product or service and persuade your prospects to take next step. If you’re asking visitor to submit a form, it’s a good idea to summarize your privacy policy. You should also offer a toll-free number for people who prefer to call.
| | 7 Web Site Design Mistakes That Will Lose You ClientsWritten by Frauke Nonnenmacher
In today's world, a web site is virtually mandatory for any successful business. But there are web sites that will win you customers, and there are web sites that will lose you customers. Good design has a lot to do with which category your web site will fall into. But what is it that makes good or bad web site design? In my personal opinion, a good web site is one that's simple, informative and gives me a reason to come back frequently. That's what you should get from a good web designer/writer team. Bad sites, on other hand, are complicated to use, slow loading, confusing or just plain annoying. Here's a list of my personal top 7 turn-offs as far as web site design is concerned:1.Slow loading pages Studies have shown that you have less than ten seconds to grab a visitor's attention. If your web page hasn't finished loading within that (very short) amount of time, you might as well forget about it. The main culprit I've found here are huge, slow- loading graphics, especially when they are embedded in tables. If large images are absolutely vital to presenting your business, compromise by adding thumbnails to main page and allow visitor to click on them to access main image. Nobody minds a longer loading time, as long as it's them who can make that choice. 2.No contact information As I've already mentioned in my article "Do's and don'ts of web site copy", one of my pet peeves is a web site that has no contact information accessible form main page. If I can't get in touch with a company quickly and easily, chances are that I'll go to competition. My advice is to have a whole page dedicated to contact information – address, phone, fax, email, and preferably a map of where you can be found (remember item #1, though – no huge graphics!) And please, don't use a graphic to display that information in a particularly clever way. I like to copy and paste that information directly from web page to my contact management program. If I can't do that, you'll likely never hear form me – and all other customers who do same!
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