People Do Judge Web Sites
By Their Front Pages
A successful Web site
is an extremely effective sales tool since it has the ability to gain the
attention of a captive audience. Like all direct response marketing processes,
it must first hook a reader's attention and then move them to take some action.
However, when the mechanics of that very first page are ignored, it often
causes visitors to click out of a site from the moment they arrive. And such
Web sites, although some of which get a large number of hits, never seem to
produce the anticipated level of response let alone deeper traffic.
With just a few changes,
you can turn your Web site into a more compelling and effective sales tool.
Remember that, every single day, your customers are bombarded with a continuous
flow of information and marketing messages, and that competition for their
attention is exceedingly fierce. A Web site that captures their attention
and stays active in your customer's mind will not only have them visit deeper
into your site and generate sales but also have them visit your site again
and again as well as refer your site to others.
Here are some basic rules
to follow when designing a front page:
Be Focused
Target your market! As
the adage goes, "You can not be all things to all people." You can,
however, position your site effectively to meet the needs of a specific group.
It's a paradox but you will indeed get more with less. This means understanding
who your customers/visitors are and what motivates their buying decisions.
Therefore, do your homework. Know your customer. Appeal to their specific
needs and psyche. Focus like a laser on your niche, and your site will burn
into their minds.
Web sites centered on
a very narrow theme or idea will create visitors of greater interest, and
especially leads that are much more pre-qualified and apt to buy. Look at
it this way: When you narrow down your message and focus on a niche, visitors
will be 50% sold the minute they hit your site's first page. Then, it is up
to your content (copy, offer, and call-to-action) to take them through the
remaining 50%.
Niche marketing on the
Web is particularly important since people do not have the time to sift through
an entire site -- let alone a search engine or even the Internet -- to find
exactly that for which they are looking. If your site is unique, highly specialized,
and focused however, people will be inclined to surf deeper into your site
once they hit the first page.
When focusing on a niche,
the content of your site's first page will be far more credible than the mere
see-through puffery of one's own blatant promotional message. Nevertheless,
if you cater to a particular audience, it will then be easier for your first
page to lead visitors to a successful outcome because, once they hit your
site, they are in fact pre-qualified.
Be Specific
Answer this skill-testing
question: "What exactly do you want your visitors to do?" Simple,
isn't it? But it doesn't seem that way with the many sites I've visited. The
KISS principle (that's Keep It Simple and Straightforward) is immensely important
on online. An effective Web site starts with smart planning and it must have
a clear objective that will lead to a specific action or outcome. If your
site is not meant to, say, sell a product, gain a customer, or obtain an inquiry
for more information, then what exactly must it do? Work around the answer
as specifically as possible. In short, have a plan when you design your site's
front page.
Don't be vague and be specific. Is your Web site meant to be like a resume
or billboard that only advertises the fact that you are "open for business"?
It shouldn't, unless you are intimately involved with that specific medium
(i.e., you are a Web designer or host, or in other words your site is the
product in itself). If not, is it to generate qualified leads? Is it to sell
a particular product? Are you trying to persuade your visitors to switch from
another company to you? Do you want them to call you on the phone for more
information? Are you trying to have them subscribe to some membership program?
You get the picture.
The mind hates confusion.
If you try to get your visitors to do too many things, especially on the front
page, they will do nothing. However, if you want to offer a visitor a variety
of different options, then try to focus on one alone and create a secondary
page (or more) that are each respective to a particular action, and then link
them together at the appropriate locations for flow. In essence, keep your
message focused. Do not try to communicate too much -- you will overwhelm
the reader. Use one major theme and revolve your message around it.
Be Clear
When you are in the process
of buying a book, for instance, the one thing that has attracted you is the
cover (if you're not aware of the author beforehand, and even then the cover
plays a key role). If the proverb "Don't judge books by their covers"
exists, it is because we, as humans, have the natural inclination to do so.
Newspapers capitalize on that intrinsic human behavior, which is why front-page
headlines and news articles are always carefully selected. In fact, the most
read part of a newspaper is not only the front page but also the top section
(or what is commonly referred as "above the fold").
Therefore, the front page
of your Web site is "the cover of your book," so to speak. It should
entice readers to surf further into the site and not lead them to take action
right then and there (unless your web site is a single page). On the front
page, keep the written copy short (or its major benefit "above the fold")
and to the point, allowing the reader to easily see what's in it for them.
Use bold, attention-grabbing headlines and subheadlines to emphasize the major
theme and the core benefit that your site offers.
In fact, list the benefits.
Why should a visitor surf your site? What's in it for him/her? In other words,
focus on communicating to the visitor the reasons why they should browse further.
A great technique for doing so is to use a bulleted list of benefits (such
as when it follows the words "With this site, you get," "in
this site, you will find," or "here are the reasons why you should
browse this site").
Bulleted benefit lists
not only give a visual break for the reader but are also effective since they
are short, to-the-point, and clustered for greater impact. Remember that customers
buy benefits not products. Therefore, your first page should focus on the
benefits of your web site and not its features. It must give specific reasons
for surfers to venture further.
Present a problem and
emphasize it. Focus on an existing gap (the gap between a problem and its
solution). And then show what your web site brings to the table by telling
your visitors how, by surfing deeper, they will be able to fill that gap.
In other words, the first page must confirm that there is a problem and how
exactly you can solve it.
Be Simple
Unlike the TV or radio,
computers are still not considered as household items (not yet, anyway). While
they are well on their way, the computer as well as the Internet are still
in their infancy. Earlier, less-capable web browsers as well as slower modems
are still the norm. If your web site includes too much background, Javascript,
frames, plugins and dazzling but slow-loading graphics in an effort to impress
it'll be counterproductive. Many potential sales are lost due to a slow-loading,
unbrowsable site.
Your site should download
fast. Research by an on-hold phone message marketing company found that people
start hanging up when put on hold for more than 30 seconds. The Internet is
no different. If they have to wait for more than 30 seconds for your page
to load, visitors will leave.
In short, if they have
to wait, they won't.
People often say our society
has entered the "information revolution." Not so. It's the "access
to information" revolution. The ability to retrieve information in nanosecond
speed is the underlying drive behind the Internet. For instance, that same
ability has caused entire layers of middle managers to be wiped out. Therefore,
anything that slows that ability down (such as having a front page over 30-40k),
especially when compared to other, quicker-loading competitor sites, will
cost you.
Aside from load-time,
you also have to deal with your prospect's very short attention span. In other
words, you only have a few seconds to attract your visitors before they leave.
As such, you must communicate and distill your message right down to the really
important. Don't overwhelm them with so much information or glitz that they
miss your central point. While your site may have entertainment value, if
they do not take action you are still losing.
Be Professional
They say that "you
never get a second chance to make a good first impression." First impressions
are therefore important to the degree to which visitors are positively impacted
by the first or index page. It is where the selling process actually begins.
Consistent color, well-balanced information, appealing and quick-loading graphics,
and, most important, the right message targeted to the proper audience are
the most important elements of a professional-looking, repeatedly revisited,
and often referred Web site.
In fact, the site's front
page message is the highest in priority. Don't let careless mistakes weaken
the impact of your presentation, and always proofread -- and have others proofread
-- your copy for typographical and grammatical errors. Use a language and
project an image that your specific target audience can easily understand.
In other words, are you trying to convey that you are informed, serious, professional,
credible, fun, helpful, resourceful, or advanced technologically? The tone
of your message should appeal specifically to a targeted market and help put
visitors in a particular frame of mind.
A final caveat, though.
The first page should not be the only one that follows the above rules. Applying
most of these pointers to an entire site should be carefully considered. Needless
to say, however, that if you are able to make them pass through that all-important
first page hurdle, then persuading them to take action later on should be
a cinch.
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Originally published in IMC's Internet Marketing Chronicles.
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