| Top Web Hosting Provider of The Month: |
 |
| Visit Bluehost.com | Read Bluehost Review |
|
|
| >> Web Hosting Geeks // Web Hosting Articles // Web Design |
|
|
 |
Web Design: How To Get Your Visitors To Stay
Remember the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come"? In the world of Internet marketing, you not only want them to come, you want them to stay. The Internet is fast-paced. Your visitors decide very quickly whether or not you have what they want. There are five strategies that will help you engage your visitors and encourage them to explore what you have to offer. Make Your Site About Your Visitors Not You In order to do this, you must clearly know your target audiences and what you anticipate they will be looking for when they visit your site. For example, your target audiences could include the client groups you serve, potential donors, policymakers, members of the general public and the media. In order to get and keep their attention, you must quickly let them know that you understand their needs and have a service or product that meets them. Remember, your visitors want to know what's in it for them. Make Your Site Easy to Navigate Limit the navigation choices your visitors can make. One recent study found that many sites offer an average of 25 options from the home page. That's too many. In addition, make sure the wording of your navigation bars gives your visitors a clear idea of what they'll find. You want to make it easy for visitors to get the information they want. Visitors who get confused or frustrated leave. Make Your Web Site A Funnel You want visitors to decide that they want to get to know you. Give them easy ways to learn that you can meet their needs. Let me give you an example. If you provide health-related services, guide them to content that gives them health tips they can use. Then let them know that they can receive this kind of information regularly through your monthly e-newsletter. Give them an opportunity to subscribe. Then lead them to content that talks more directly about your programs, services or products and the benefits of what you offer. Draw your visitors into the work of your organization. Use Testimonials Word of mouth is one of the best ways for people to learn about you. You can get the same result with testimonials. Ask your clients what benefits they got from participating in your services or activities. Ask board members to tell you why they chose to become involved with your organization. Ask your volunteers what benefits they get from working with you. Then ask their permission to use what they said as a testimonial and put those testimonials on your site. Testimonials help visitors feel more comfortable with you. Make Your Site Interactive Use short assessments and other feedback mechanisms to engage your visitors. Offer opportunities to attend events or to volunteer. Make sure that visitors can easily contact you - both online and offline. Interaction starts building a relationship. Take a fresh look at your web site. Look at your site's organization and content in terms of these strategies. What action can you take right now to encourage your web site visitors to stay? Judith Rothbaum's passion is helping nonprofit organizations thrive. She gives seminars, workshops, presentations and coaching programs nationwide with one key message - think boldly about who you are and the impact you have in your community. Visit http://www.datafordecisionmaking.com to learn more.
MORE RESOURCES:
Web-Design - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
So You're Hiring a Web Designer-You Have the Right to Demand these 7 Perks Whether you're hiring a designer who has created 10 sites or 1000 sites for other businesses, there are 10 things every website should do for you.1. Web Site Accessibility Making your site accessible means making it available to be used by all. It's too easy to think that what looks ok to you will do for all. Tapping Into The Visual Stimulus Of Your Web Site Visitors "Oh, my eyes, my eyes! What an eye sore. Quick, click away! Click away!"Suddenly I wake up in a cold sweat. Choosing A Color Scheme When you begin the design of your Web site, one of the first things you need to do is decide on a color scheme. Although choosing colors seems like a relatively easy proposition, it's not easy at all. 15 Website Elements That Attract Visitors Here is a quick list of components that make a website attractive. They are listed in layers of attractiveness beginning with the "must" haves, to "nice to haves. How to Avoid the Biggest Mistakes Member Sites Make in Their Marketing Copy If you have a web site to which people pay a periodic member fee, it's likely that you belong to other member web sites and have done so for at least a year or two. Thus it's easy for you to overlook the fact that to the average person, member web sites are either a relatively new phenomenon or a completely new phenomenon. Love at First Site: Giving Your Website Visitors the right Impression Think of the people who visit your site as blind dates. When you open the door, your blind date usually knows whether they are attracted to you within the first minute. Quality of Your Text Layout and Design Why is the quality of your text layout and design important on your web site? For the simple reason that people tends to stay longer on a web site that radiates quality and simplicity.Why?Because it gives you a more professional impression and the text is easy to read. Looking For A Designer To Re-Design Your Website? If you were like me and you have just started an online business, you have a website that you have made or someone has made it for you, and this design does not match up to your expectations and the competition. Fear not, there is an inexpensive solution to your problem. Top Ten Ways to Use Audio on Your Site Audio can provide an added dimension to your site. It creates a warm atmosphere where visitors feel like they know you. Excellently Constructed Websites Want to see an excellently constructed website? As a writer I found one of my favorite writers: (Paulo Coelho) has a site that could inspire anyone who wants to create a more humanistic presence on the Web.Being a writer, when I was asked to do some research into what makes a good website, of course I straightaway went to check out all of my favorite authors. To Flash, or Not to Flash When considering whether or not to incorporate Flash into your website, you must also consider the target market you are trying to reach.For instance, a website which serves as a depository for articles and information catering to lawyers would probably not be a good candidate for a Flash "makeover". Tips for Getting More Sales From Your Website (1) Create a Direct Response Website, with the minimum number of pages possible (e.g. Secrets to Using Color on Your Website and Common Pitfalls to Avoid Colors have long been known to have psychological affects on mood and interpretation. So, when you are designing your website, you should keep in mind the influence color might have on your visitors. Website Background Colors and Graphics: What You Need to Know Before Designing Your Website Designing your website means you have to be creative, plan out exactly what you want visitors to see, and then turn these ideas into a design or relay them to a design firm so they can do the job for you. However, the problem with this is you might be coming up with a lot of ideas that are not going to work for you when it comes to the design on your web page. Choose & Use the Best Colors, The Psychology of Color Are you using the best colors for your web site? Many web designers often overlook the issues of color in web design. When choosing colors for your web site there are three main areas that should be addressed. Make Your Site Quick To Load! The time it takes to load your site can make or break a visitor's first impression of your site. If your site takes too long to load, the visitor will click "Stop" or "Back" and leave your web site. A Landing Page is Not an Order Page (and why it matters) To explain my point I need to first confuse the issue a bit (you'll see why): While a landing page is not an order page, it can, and in many cases should, contain the order form.So what is the difference? Is this just a question of semantics? Actually, there is a big difference and it can have a big effect on your conversion rate. What Drives Repeat Visitors To Your Site? There can be zillions of reasons why your visitors return to your web site. One might be very interested in seeing your animated photo on your main page, but kidding aside I've gathered 12 elements that invites your visitors to repeat their visits. Give Your Website A Chance I often wonder how serious people are when it comes to their websites. I thought that most everyone knew that the phrase "Build it and they will come" no longer applies on the internet but I'm not sure how many people really believe it.
|
|
|
|
|
| © 2004 - 2008 "Web Hosting Geeks" | Web Hosting Reviews | Customer Reviews | RealMetrics Reviews | Hosting Articles | Directory | Partners | Contacts Over 7000 articles: web hosting, web development, domain names, ecommerce, web design, site promotion, ppc advertising, seo, site promotion and many others. Web hosting reviews, ratings and awards are not based on any incentives or commissions. Names and trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. A direct link to Web Hosting Geeks (http://webhostinggeeks.com) must be provided in order to use any of the above information. Contact us for more info. Partners: Hosts by speed, Cheap Website Hosting, Free Website Hosting, Cheap Web Hosting, Top 10 Web Hosts, Top 10 Web Hosting Deals, Best Website Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, Adult Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discussions, Dedicated Server Reviews, Best Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discounts, HostProfessor.com, rsuog, halyava, PHP Website Hosting Services, Web Hosting Reviews, Hosting Uptime, Best Web Hosting Reviews, Cheap Webhosting, Web Hosting, Flash Templates, CMS Templates, Web Hosting Reviews, Website Hosting Reviews, Web Hosting Providers, Best Web Hosting, Top Web Hosting, RSUOG Web Hosting |