According to a study by Forrester Research, the top 3 things visitors look for in Websites are:

1. High-quality information — content is the biggest influence on a visitor’s decision to return to a Website.
2. Ease of use — the site architecture should be simple and intuitive.
3. Quick to download — users don’t tolerate lag time. They get frustrated if they have to wait more than a second for a page to download, and abandon it after 5 seconds.

Source: Internet Marketing Report, 11/15/06, p. 7

Whether you’re building your first site or you already have one up and running, these points are worth keeping in mind.

Unfortunately, many website owners place too much attention on traffic generation and not enough on the quality of their website. Consider this — you may be getting the ‘numbers,’ but if you don’t have a website that meets the above criteria, you’re probably not going to get the sales.