Brought to you by Arizona Web Design | obu Web Technologies
Topic: Is your Website converting browsers into buyers?
The first five, that’s (5), seconds a visitor spends on your site will determine whether a casual browser will stick around long enough to take any sort of action. Your site must meet certain criteria in the visitor’s mind in order to prove that your site is worthwhile.

If the front page is 50 screens long, has a purple background with green text, and a logo that looks like it was made in Windows Paint then the visitor will leave. However, your site doesn’t have to look like CNN.com or News.com, as long as it provides good content. A small percentage of Internet visitors will continue to surf your site even if the design isn’t that great, as long as the information you have is good. Engaging the viewer visually will entice them to look further and thereby exposing them to your message.

If they came looking for a specific piece of information, they’ll scan your site to see if there is a section/link where the answer to their question may lie. If they were just surfing the Internet not looking for anything specific, they’ll be looking to see if your site is interesting, and whether it has content that is worth perusing. Either way, make sure that your front page makes it rather obvious what’s on your site. If they get frustrated, more likely than not they’ll soon leave, unless your site provides some of the most compelling content on the Internet. This is where having a good navigation scheme comes into play.

Your site’s next goal should be to turn visitors who have stayed up to this point into ‘regulars.’ This can be done by putting up a notice on your front page saying “Updated ___ (weekly, daily, monthly etc.)”, having a newsletter, or simply asking people to bookmark your site.

A good way to convert casual browsers is to simply ask “Where will my visitors come from and exactly how do they arrive at my site?

You want visitors to find you when they’re actively looking for a particular product or service, not visitors who are forced to your site — a practice which some ad networks brag about.

Targeted traffic can be gained through a variety of means. The most effective is via the major search engines. High rankings for relevant search terms in Google, Yahoo, or MSN are a surefire way to get the traffic you want.
The process is simple – A user searches for “arizona widgets” and chooses among the top 10 or so listings. If your are selling widgets in Arizona it is very desirable for your website to be listed in the top 10. Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is the term given to the process in which a web developer optimizes your web site for the desired search term, thereby increasing the chances that your listing will be among the top. Google and Overture also offer Pay-Per-Click(PPC) services which an advertiser pays a market determined price to be listed in the “sponsored results” of the regular search engine listings. More on PPC in a later issue.

The 3 essential keys to converting casual web surfer to buyers, subscribers, or users are:
An engaging visual design.
A site that contains relevant information for the desired audience.
Increase your percentage of targeted traffic by achieving a good placement in search ranking for your relevant terms.
If you have any questions or would like more information on the topics covered in this mailing. Please visit us at obu Web Technologies – www.obuweb.com, Your Arizona Web Designer