Website Conversions part01

Okay so you done all that hard work, sourcing that unlimited web hosting, designing, building and promoting your website. Then you setup your Google Analytics account and watch to see the traffic arrive, the excitement is palpable as you want to see that long awaited return on investment ..... and then traffic comes and just as quickly it leaves, without buying a thing! All your hopes and dreams crashed. Not crashed, you have simply got to the next stage of the process. The final tweaking of the site. Welcome to the world of Conversions. Converting site visitors to buyers.

• Are you meeting your visitors expectations.   Make sure that your product is highly visible as soon they arrive at your site. A simple re-assurance that you can deliver what you are promising. This may be a single product or a range of product but get the message across fast.
• Visitors can't search for what they want.  If you are providing a range of products Provide a good search function, like that provided by Google Custom Search Engine, to make it easy for visitors to find what they seek. If you have a CMS (content management system) like wordPress  you are provided with an site search facility that searches the database holding all the site data. Google analytics will show you what people are typing in the Search Facility.
• You're not listening to your visitors. One of the easiest ways to figure out your conversion problems is to simply listen to your customers.
• Check out what users are searching for, and take a look at your site's analytics to see where you're losing them. Pay attention to these metrics, and you can identify real problems with your site.
• Your landing page takes too long to load. People on the internet have no patient and you need to get your landing page loaded asap. Every second counts. So strip it down to the bare minimum. Smart coding can load additional items in the background once the  message content is already there.
• Your site has errors and dead ends. Visitors are looking for any excuse to leave, don't give them any. Get someone to proof read your site for spelling errors. Vigorously test your own site, (test it to destruction). Don't assume that everything is Okay. When you have a site that is being changed a lot you need to have every confidence that it is fully operational.
• Your site does not follow standard Web conventions. Visitors expect that company logos will link to the home page and that a shopping cart will hold potential purchases, so stick to established Web conventions to make it easier on them.
• Your site breaks a browser's back button. Whether you're opening links in a new window or just using frames, you've effectively disabled a user's back button. This is confusing and frustrating for a lot of Web users, who just might abandon your site.

Design Make sure that your site's design is conducive to conversions by avoiding these mistakes.

• You've buried important information. Web users generally check out information in a "Z" formation, starting at the upper-left corner. So put your most important information in a pattern that follows their eyeline.
• Your home page is all over the place. Visitors get confused when there is too much going on at once. Simplify your home page to reflect just a few important goals.
• Your competitor has a slicker site. All other things being equal, users will gravitate to the site with more visual appeal, so stay on top of your competitors and always make sure that your site looks better than theirs.
• Your site just doesn't look professional. You can have every other conversion element lined up perfectly, but you will still fail if your design isn't up to par. Use a sharp layout that exudes professionalism, and it will go a long way.
• Your site is difficult to navigate. If your site doesn't have a flow to it, users will inevitably get lost and leave. Use calls to action on each page to show visitors where you expect them to go.