by: Mark Jarmel
Even after you've managed to bring traffic to your site you may be losing sales because of problems with your site's usability. What's “usability”?
Usability is how easily people are actually able to use your site. And you may be surprised at how much money you may be losing because your site has usability problems.
Just because you think your site is easy to use, doesn't mean your average customer does.
Instant Tip # 1: Have someone you know who has the same computer skills as an “average user” for your site check it out.
Have them to do something specific, like purchase a product, sign up for your newsletter or log into an account. Watch what they do, and ask them to speak their thoughts out loud.
Make sure you let them do it on their own. You won't be there to give your potential customer any directions. If your “tester” finds what they're looking for, that's great. If they have trouble, that's important for you to know.
Once you've seen how an "average user" actually uses your website, you can change things to make your site easier to use.
Instant Tip # 2: Use “Web Conventions”. People expect to see things a certain way on the web. When they don't see them, they get confused.
In sales, a confused mind says “No”.
When you don't use Web Conventions on your site your visitors get confused and leave. You lose not only a potential sale, but someone who might have become a repeat customer.
Here are some important Web Conventions to keep in mind.
Instant Tip # 3: Have your Navigation across the top or down the left. That's what people are used to, so don't confuse them.
Instant Tip # 4: Make sure your links are blue and underlined. This is a very important Web Convention. Make it obvious what is clickable. It's a good idea to make your buttons 3-D so it's very clear that they're buttons.
Instant Tip # 5: Have a sub-heading for each section and make the sub-heading bigger than the rest of the text.
Steve Krug uses the term "Don't Make Me Think". The main idea is that the more a visitor has to think, the more it hurts your sales.
Design your site so it's extremely easy for people to find what they're looking for. Your site doesn't need to look like everyone else's. Just use Web Conventions to help make it super easy for someone to buy what you're selling.
So now you know the keys to increasing sales by making your site more usable. Before you forget, take a look at the F/R/E/E ebook “How to Flood Your Website With Targeted Traffic”. You should do it now before your competitors find out about it.
(c) Mark Jarmel - All Rights reserved