Finding potential customers by itself can be a tricky, and holding on to them can be even more challenging. There are several reasons why your customer back tracks from your business site, and we are going to focus on a few here. Let’s take a closer look at what can be done to keep your customer engaged transforming them to a client.
01) Navigation Issues: It can be really frustrating when you are trying hard to find your way around a website. Customers don’t have time on their hands to spend all a day exploring your site. Making an easily accessible site reduces the stress in the customers understanding, giving them a pleasurable experience.
DONTS
• Don’t use icons or images for call-to-action symbols. This can confuse the customer.
• Main links need to stand out eg: ABOUT US. Many may think it’s cool to create a different look by burying them in the text. Customers get lost or sometimes annoyed by this.
• Make things simple. Don’t force your customer to re-think your link to get a clear picture of where it’s actually going to take them. Phrases like ‘Other Links’ can make people perplexed.
DOS:
• Try making it simple. A logical approach of what should follow after what can make it easier for a visitor to find their way around.
• Sitemaps can be used for bigger sites.
02) Ads and Pop-ups:
Ads and pop-ups that fill the page when you are desperately looking for something can only make you furious. Though it might serve you with revenue for the time being, in the long run it would decrease the traffic to your site.
DONTS:
• If you are planning on having them, don’t let them take up too much space when they pop-up
• Ads shouldn’t be the first thing that your visitors see, stop trying to divert your customer’s attention away when they are interested in the content of your site.
DOS:
• Ads do help increase your website traffic, unless they are used discreetly. Be careful not to go overboard as they will definitely increase your bounce rate.
03) Content Structure:
Besides using proper content, proper content structure also matters. Readers get frustrated when they can’t find what they are looking for. This will affect your conversion ratio.
DONTS:
• Don’t make your visitors fish for details. Everything should be easily accessible and distinctly visible.
DOS:
• Make sure that all details of specific context are found on the same page. For example: Contact info details are best put together in one page rather than spreading them out all over the website.
• Go by the rule of thumb. Some people are accustomed to looking for certain details on certain areas of the page. For example, a mail address or a phone number will usually be at the top right corner or the bottom of the page. Services are usually followed by the about us page. These simple things save time and make the visitors experience stress free.
• Highlight headings or details that you want to create a stress on. This makes it easier to locate.
04) Usage of Audio/ Video
People like to have the opportunity to choose what they view. Forcing video or audio footage on them is not very positively taken by many.
DONTS:
• Avoid automatic streaming of videos.
• Avoid using nerve racking music in the background
DOS:
• If you definitely want to share your ideas as a video, make the choice optional. Also add an easily accessible exit option incase the viewer changes his mind.
05) Registration:
Forced- registration is a definite turnoff for all visitors. If you are presently doing the same you could have noticed the bounce rates on your site.
DONTS:
• Don’t force visitors to sign in or register before in order to view content.
DOS:
• Make the signing up process optional.
• Give them a demo of the benefits of a sign up to encourage more registrations to the site.