Studies have shown that when people get ready to make a purchase online, they are more likely to buy from websites that demonstrate credibility; that is, sites that generate confidence and appear believable, honest, and trustworthy.

Unfortunately, many website owners are unaware their site lacks these qualities and, as a result, they are losing sales … often without even knowing it.

The simple fact is this: If potential customers don’t feel comfortable about doing business with you, they are going to leave … and all the traffic generation strategies you have put into place (and spent money on) will be worthless.

So what does it take to ensure that your website appears credible to your visitors?

There are several factors involved and I address them in my FREE report, “Creating Strong Website Credibility.”

I urge you to download a copy, then take a critical look at your website and make whatever changes may be necessary. I feel certain you will benefit in the long run.

Do you know about eye tracking? This is the way it’s described on the poynterextra.org website:

Eyetracking is research that tracks where a person’s eyes look while reading, then analyzes the data to reveal patterns. By combining and reviewing data from multiple individuals during testing, you can discover representative patterns that apply to most of the population.  Continue Reading »

I’m not sure where the person got his information, but on the Warrior Forum, someone made the comment that the “About Me” page was supposed to be about “how you can help me.”

This is incorrect. Continue Reading »

It happened again today.

I landed on a website as a result of a Google search and started reading the content. Within only a few moments, it was obvious to me that the website owner had not updated the site for quite some time. Continue Reading »

I just read a blog that talks about the importance of good web design (one of the many elements that makes a website successful).

The blog writer references research done by Carleton University in Canada that found “Web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second).”

The reseachers further suggest that these “first impressions can influence subsequent judgments of website credibility and buying decisions.” (For more information on website credibility, download my FREE report, “Creating Strong Website Credibility.”)

This is further evidence that the success of your website is not based entirely on traffic. Yes, traffic is important because without it, your site is just taking up space on the internet. But once your visitors arrive, the design of your website (along with navigation, content, ordering process, etc) plays a major role in determining whether they will stay … and buy.

It’s been said that everyone likes to make their customers happy.

I believe there is a great deal of truth in this statement; however, as I surf around the internet and look at various websites, it seems some website owners have forgotten what it takes to make their customers happy (or at least their potential customers).

Here’s the scenario: You arrive at a website hoping to find information about a particular product or service. After spending several minutes at the site, clicking here and clicking there, you end up leaving in frustration because you feel like you’re going in circles.

Are you happy? Probably not.

Experts say that most of us will click 7 or 8 times to find what we need. After that, we generally say ‘sayonara’ to that website and move on.

To my thinking, people should not be forced to click even 5 or 6 times to get where they need to be. If a website has been laid out with the visitor in mind, the process of getting from Point A (the entry page) to Point B (the order page) should be effortless, i.e., a maximum of 3-4 clicks.

If you are a website owner and want to make sure your customers are happy, pay special attention to your navigational menu and make sure each link takes your visitors where they want to go.

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.

If you’re not getting the results you want from your website, contact me for a Free Website Review. I’ll take a look at your site and give you a brief summary of my initial impressions. It’s a good way to get an idea about what your visitors are seeing.