Copyright © Glenn Jones
There are any number of reasons why a web page, ezine, blog, or sales copy just doesn’t give us the results we desire. Today I am going to talk about some of the most overlooked problems and give you solutions you can implement.
By being the owner of an e-business you have to rely on your web pages to represent you and your products to your potential customers. You only have one chance to make the right first impression.
Let me put this in perspective. If you visit the grocery store down the street you can hear the relaxing music being played over the speaker system, the floors are clean, and you can smell freshly baked bread coming from the oven. A sample of cheese or a cookie tastes great. Every isle is well marked and well lighted. You relax and enjoy your shopping experience. What you say and do with your web page has to convey all the same feelings and evoke the same responses from your “shoppers”. It doesn’t matter if you are selling the best service or product in the world if you cant get visitors to enter your website and stay long enough to see and hopefully buy your product.
What keeps people out? I am glad you asked. There are several possibilities but lets look at these three: Color, Clutter, and feelings of insecurity.
First of all color is one of the most powerful tools available to set the mood of your site and provoke an emotional response. The colors you choose to use will have an impact on your visitors. Not only that, but different cultures respond to the same colors differently. Know who your primary customers are. A person from the United States would see yellow and think “cowardice” while for a person from Japan yellow points to the “future”.
Okay lets look at some specific colors:
· RED - creates excitement, used to express passion, speed or danger.
· BLUE- the most popular color. Builds trust and conveys reliability.
· ORANGE- triggers playfulness and child-like behavior
· GREEN- associated with trees and grass. Means growth and abundance.
· PURPLE- images of royalty and dignity.
· PINK- associated with femininity, softness and nurturing.
· WHITE- evokes idea of cleanliness, purity, and youthfulness. (Works best for website backgrounds)
· BLACK- triggers thought of the “dark side”, evokes mystery and seduction.
There are many more examples, but just understand that color choice is important. Let me also add that it is best if you do not use more than three colors on a page. Research has shown that the human brain can better remember things grouped in threes. This is a basic human phenomenon. The rule of three also can be applied to the number of fonts used on a page or the number of different elements being introduced.
Let’s talk now about clutter. Anything that distracts your visitors from making an informed decision to buy your product or service is clutter. Some of the top frustrations from a recent poll were:
1. Pop-up Boxes
2. Banner Ads
3. Congested web page
4. Poor navigation tools
5. Slow Load Time
All of these complaints drive your customers to your competition. If it doesn’t add clarity and support your process of moving your customer to buy, then leave it out. Keep focused on your goal.
Good navigation tools help make it easier for your visitors to move from page to page and find what they are looking for. Keep it simple and uniform. The more elements you add to your page will also slow down how fast your page loads. This is where the “eight second rule” comes into play. Most web searchers will leave a site if it doesn’t load within eight seconds. It has been estimated that 4.3 Billion dollars is lost each year due to this phenomenon! Enough said.
We have discussed color, clutter and now it is time to address the issue of security. This is perhaps the most difficult challenge you face. How do you develop trust with a customer through a web page? If you have followed the suggestions we have already covered it will go a long way toward giving you business a professional look. Some other things to do include:
1. Have an easy, no hassle return policy.
2. Give detailed descriptions of your products. (Pictures)
3. Provide a way to give quick response to questions.
4. State your security policy on each page.
5. Provide testimonials – word of mouth is still a great tool.
6. Send a confirmation e-mail to your customers. You want them to visit again.
This is a vast area of marketing and we have barely scratched the surface. Take the time to look at your store and see if it reflects what you want your prospective visitors to see and know about you. Maybe some of the things we have talked about will help you become the businessperson you know you really are. Best wishes!
