Does Your Website Look Better Than It Really Is?
If you read this blog regularly, you may be tired of seeing me go on and on about building a better technology website; but there’s a very good reason for it.
Most business technology websites suck. And that’s not just my opinion. There’s plenty of independent research to support the premise that business technology buyers – actually buyers of any type of business-to-business product or service – are far less than thrilled with vendor sites.
Why? Usually because it’s too hard to find the content they want – if it even exists on the site at all.
Look at it this way. Business technology buyers are busy people. They have a job to do. They need information and they need it quickly. They’re not surfing the internet to be entertained (at least not right now). They’re trying to make an educated buying decision. Sounds a little like you and me, doesn’t it?
Most technology websites throw a bunch of graphic obstacles in the visitors’ path. This is commonly done in form of gigantic billboard images, distracting flash, busy complex pages and virtually unreadable type.
Ask yourself this question. Do you want a site that looks cool or do you want a site that helps convert traffic into customers?
If you have a professionally designed site, there’s a roughly 80% chance that your site looks better than it is.
Want proof? Take a look at your bounce rate. If it’s higher than 50%, you’ve got a problem – or a great chance to make a big improvement depending on how you want to look at it.
So, what can you do about it?
If you’re the do-it-yourself type, you’ll find plenty of actionable ideas in articles on this blog. Just search on “website”. If you want a fast solution with the help of experts, check out our Website Review and Recommendations program.
When was the last time you closed a deal where no one on the buying side had ever visited your website? I thought so.
It’s time to take your website much more seriously.
[tags]website design, website optimization, bounce rate [/tags]
This article was first published May 8, 2008 on the Tatum Marketing blog
If you read this blog regularly, you may be tired of seeing me go on and on about building a better technology website; but there’s a very good reason for it.
Most business technology websites suck. And that’s not just my opinion. There’s plenty of independent research to support the premise that business technology buyers – actually buyers of any type of business-to-business product or service – are far less than thrilled with vendor sites.
Why? Usually because it’s too hard to find the content they want – if it even exists on the site at all.
Look at it this way. Business technology buyers are busy people. They have a job to do. They need information and they need it quickly. They’re not surfing the internet to be entertained (at least not right now). They’re trying to make an educated buying decision. Sounds a little like you and me, doesn’t it?
Most technology websites throw a bunch of graphic obstacles in the visitors’ path. This is commonly done in form of gigantic billboard images, distracting flash, busy complex pages and virtually unreadable type.
Ask yourself this question. Do you want a site that looks cool or do you want a site that helps convert traffic into customers?
If you have a professionally designed site, there’s a roughly 80% chance that your site looks better than it is.
Want proof? Take a look at your bounce rate. If it’s higher than 50%, you’ve got a problem – or a great chance to make a big improvement depending on how you want to look at it.
So, what can you do about it?
If you’re the do-it-yourself type, you’ll find plenty of actionable ideas in articles on this blog. Just search on “website”. If you want a fast solution with the help of experts, check out our Website Review and Recommendations program.
When was the last time you closed a deal where no one on the buying side had ever visited your website? I thought so.
It’s time to take your website much more seriously.
Tue, Nov 10, 2009
Conversion Optimization, Traffic
Written by: Susan Tatum