For many struggling website owners, the big question of the hour is how they can improve their website to increase sales. The answer really depends on what the goal of your site is and what your target audience is. Here are 10 things you can do to improve your website immediately.

1. A good page title: It may seem like a no-brainer, but when people use a site like Google to find things, they only scan the results for a moment. Make sure your web page title is short, catchy and memorable. You want people to not only visit but also bookmark your site and come back on a regular basis.

2. A strong headline: Okay, you’ve got people on your site, now, how do you make them stay? Depending on how good your overall design is the next thing people are going to notice is the text. Introduce your text with a bold headline. This is your opportunity to tell them the reason why they need to keep reading your copy. Make it strong, confident, easy to understand and to the point. ‘How To’ headlines and headlines that pose an interesting question work especially well, as do problem based headlines.

3. Improve the text above the fold: This is an old newspaper term that referred to making the story that was above the fold of the front page as strong as possible to sell more papers. People aren’t going to scroll down your site and read the rest of it if what you have in the top half of the screen isn’t compelling.

4. Make the benefits of your website clear: This is usually done in the first bit of text on the page or even with the headline. Tell people why your site will meet their needs and how you can solve their problem.

5. Include testimonials: Testimonials from your clients are great to establish trust. Visitors will trust you because others tell you how wonderful you are, instead of you blowing your own horn. Testimonials with ‘before’ and ‘after’ stories are effective. Use a name on the testimonial so it is authentic. Include a picture of the person, if possible. It helps to add legitimacy.

6. Use contrast: Is there a strong contrast between the background colour and text color on your web page? Contrast is what draws your visitor’s eyes to the content. Black text on a white background is best for optimal readability.

7. Make your website more focused: If your site looks like a sprawling mess of content, you can sharpen it up by giving it focus. Does your website state clearly who you are, what you do and what you can offer your visitors? Get rid of any content that doesn’t speak directly to your target audience and delete any extra bells and whistles that your page doesn’t really need. Let content drive your site.

8. Have easily accessible contact info: Nothing can be more frustrating for a customer who is visiting your website for the first time than hunting around for several minutes trying to find an email or phone number to call so they can reach you. Make sure the contact information on your website is easily accessible.

9. Make it easy for your visitor to scan: Use subheads in your copy so it’s easier for your visitor to scan and know what your web page is about at a glance. Besides subheads, use bold text and bullet points and short paragraphs. If visitors cannot scan your web pages quickly, they will leave.

10. A call to action: Remember, when a visitor lands on your website, you want them to take action. Tell them what to do. If it is to order a particular product or to click further into the site, you need to involve the reader in your site. Always have a call to action at the end of every page.

By following the above tips, you can make the most out of your little home on the web.

The Low Cost Web site Design Secrets series continues. You’ll always be able to click the link to the entire series below.

Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number 25: Be Almost Painfully Obvious with Your Call to Action.

Imagine this scenario. You’re interested in buying a new flat-screen television, so you go to your favorite store that sells them, which is having a sale with cheap places and is located close to your house. They even have free delivery, so you figure this will be a painless trip.

As you’re wandering around the store, you see all kinds of information about the television that you can read. You see charts with price comparisons, and way at the back of the store are places where you can even sign up to have the catalog sent to your house, although you have to hunt for it, and ask several of the sales people where to find it.

You’re starting to get annoyed, when finally you find the area where there are actually TVs on display. You pick out the one you want, and start looking around for the check out area.

Only you can’t find it. You look everywhere you can think of, and finally ask one of the sales associates about it on the way out. He stares at you blankly and scratches his head, and after much consultation with other associates, directs you to a tiny closet on the far right wall of the store, near the bathrooms.

By this time, it’s been almost an hour and a half, and you’re so freaked out, you just take all the research you’ve put together and go to your second-favorite store. In this one, the TVs on sale are well displayed, and the cash registered are right at the front of the store, the way they are in most department stores. You buy your flat-screen television set and go home happy in about fifteen minutes. You vow never to waste another second in the first store again.

What’s the moral of this story? There are three.

Make your call to action almost painfully obvious - though not obtrusive. No one can buy your products if they don’t know that you’re selling them.
Make the buying process as simple as possible.
Don’t be bashful about selling your products or services. If you are, there’s someone else who won’t be.

Many new webmasters are nervous about the fact that their site sells something, but they shouldn’t be - if your prospects are interested, they may become clients. Indeed, if they are targeted visitors, they may Want to become clients.

And since, on the internet, a person can arrive at just about any part of your site other than the home page, you should have your call to action - whether it is to subscribe or to buy - on every single page of your site, in a prominent, consistent location.

Nina

Ask Nina a Web Site Design Question
Web Site Design Newsletter
Web Site Design Services

Read the Rest of the Low Cost Web Site Design Secrets Series

affordable-web-site-design, low-cost-web-site-design-secrets, toronto-web-site-design, web-design, web-site-design, web-site-design-services, web-site-design-toronto, website-design