3 Ways You’re Driving Traffic Away From Your Website
If your business has invested a fair sized chunk of change into putting a corporate website online, chances are it would like to use it to convert visitors of said website into paying customers. Just saying. So it is probably a good idea to read what we have to say about website conversions and the ways you might be driving them into the ground.
- Do Not Craft Your Business’ Web Design or Content Based on Intuition
One of the largest mistakes marketers will make with their company’s website is that they simply use their intuition to try (emphasis on “try”) to make it work to convert website visitors into paying customers.
First off, who are you? The original Mad Max of the web? Did you see what happened to Mad Mel? Did you??
My first piece of advice is to step down off your high horse and remove the word “rock star” from your business card; no one is taking you more seriously than you are. You’re not a super genius, you’re winging it.
Second, data should always be the driving force behind every major design choice or piece of content you publish. End of story.
And yet there are plenty of people out there that wing it; Crazy Egg uncovered the fact that 63% of marketers make decisions based on their intuition and not data. 63%! No wonder no one takes us seriously. If you are going to create a successful ecommerce website it is going to have to be based on digits, not what feels pretty.
Solution: Install Google Analytics
and figure out what content is the most popular on your website –monitor Tweets with analytical software, too. When you figure out what people want, do more of that instead of doing what you want. It’s that easy.
- Don’t Put Company News on Your Business Home Page
Yes, visitors adore learning about your business some of the time; however, first time visitors could give less thought to your business news because they are there for one sole reason: what you can do for them.
Your business news may be exciting, it may be relevant, and it should certainly be included on your website. Just not on the home page or a landing page.
- Unnecessary Clutter
Having a high quality website design always matters. Have you ever seen those little percent widget-looking things that brag about mundane details like how many people in the office drink Bulletproof coffee or how many of them have beards like Rand Fish? What do you think their conversion rate is?
Yup, you guessed it. While I continue on with my rant, relax, you’re no rocket scientist –of course I am going to rant about those cluttered, pointless, frivolous things, too.
Clutter is bad. Being arrogant enough to assume people want to see that on your home page is worse. What’s in it for the customer besides the fact that you can code an animated pie chart which states 2/3 of your office is a hipster? That’s brilliant –just kidding. It’s like competing to be the skinniest kid at fat camp.
High quality web design involves knowing how to convey what matters to your website visitors, not what your CEO thinks looks good. If that was the case we’d go back to having Macromedia Flash intros on websites you have to sit through again, and nobody wants that!
In Conclusion
This is just the tip of the iceberg, ladies and gentlemen. Did you find this post funny or inflammatory? Have your say in the comments!
