HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales platform, conducted a survey and asked people what the most important factor was in the design of a website. In other words, they wanted to find out what website visitors really want. 76% of them said, “The website makes it easy for me to find what I want.”
“Beautiful appearance” came in a lowly second with only 10% of respondents caring what the site looks like. Isn’t that the same with you? How much patience do you have with a website where you get stuck, trying to figure out where to go. About as much as it takes to click away?
Don’t let your visitors be stymied because they can’t find what they’re looking for. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The internet is action oriented. The beholder, your visitor, wants to get stuff done, not look at a pretty site.
Too often we get excited about the latest technology and the most beautiful design and miss the most important element…moving your visitor to action.
Here’s how to be sure you have what website visitors really want.
8 Point Checklist on How To Make Sure Visitors Find What They’re Looking For
- Your company name, logo, and tagline are in the upper left corner of your site. I’ll bet that’s where you glance first when you get to a website you haven’t seen before.
- Your primary navigation runs across the top of the page or down the left hand side. Specials and ancillary links are on the right.
- In your headline and introductory lead on the homepage, make it obvious what you do and how you help. Include your value proposition. Do this by answering this question as if posed by your visitor: “If I am your ideal prospect, why should I buy from you rather than any of your competitors?” Add a few lines of explanatory text. This is for new visitors who may be unfamiliar with how you can benefit them. Don’t talk about your company, clearly address the wants, needs, and desires of your visitors.
- Get your headline and lead above the fold. Don’t make your visitors have to scroll down to get interested.
- Organize your site into topics or categories easily available in one or two clicks from the homepage. If you offer a relatively few products/services, list them with links under your headline and lead. If you offer too many products/services to list on the homepage, then organize them into categories. Then list those categories with links to category pages that in turn contain links to each product.
- Make sure your site is clean and easy to read. Use subheads, bullets, meaningful photos, captions, charts for quick scanning. Use dark text against a white—or light--background.
- Remember, you don’t want your visitor to work hard to figure out what you want them to do. Your call to action must be clear. Tell them how to do something.
- No distractions! Do not use sliders containing text. They’re hard to read and contain too many thoughts for your visitors to absorb.
What You Can Do Today to Give What Website Visitors Really Want
Yes, you can make some quick changes to your website to make it easier to please visitors. Look at your headlines. Start changing them today to add clarity to the page by telling visitors what the page is about.
Break up dense text adding subheads and bullets. Eliminate sentences that don’t add to the momentum you want your visitors to feel as you lead them to action.
Switch from light text and dark background to dark text and light background.
Then, over time, consider your unique value proposition. Edit your text so it addresses the needs of your audience. You’ll lose them if you talk too much about your company.
And ask your webmaster to get rid of those sliders! I can’t think of one slider I’ve ever confronted where I could read the text in time before it switched.
Think about getting a content audit. Get an outside source to rate your site for usability and easy understanding.
Making things easy on your visitors is your ticket to leads and sales online. A beautiful website is fine, but remember, your site is a place where your customers want to get things done. That's what website visitors really want.
Until next time,
Nick
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