Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Is Slow Speed Costing You Website Visitors?

Getting people to visit your website is an ordeal in itself. Traffic generation is not child’s play – it requires you to have the zeal of an Olympic sprinter and the patience of a saint! So once you do manage to attract a decent number of visitors, your sole aim should be to provide them with a smooth, sublime user experience. Understand that the web is becoming increasingly competitive with each passing minute and thousands of websites are jostling for potential customers' attention in every conceivable niche. Thus, even a minor glitch in your website is enough to turn off your visitors and hurt sales.


Statistics indicate that even just a one-second delay in the page loading time can reduce conversions by almost 8 percent! So if your website makes $100 a day, a one-second delay in page loading time will amount to a loss of almost $3,000 dollars a year! Slow speed is also detrimental to your search engine rankings and this takes an even larger toll on your income. There are several other factors that alienate your visitors and causes losses. The 5 most exasperating factors are discussed below in detail.

1. Automatic audio and video: People like to watch videos. After all, videos are much more interesting and entertaining than just plain text. Still, visitors prefer to choose when to watch a video – they simply hate it when they are forced to watch it! People often surf the web at work, in a public library or in other social environments. So the last thing that they want is for some loud, obnoxious video to go off unexpectedly! It can be very embarrassing for your visitors – even more so if the video or audio pertains to a sensitive subject. Videos are good for conversions but only if they appeal to the curiosity of potential customers. So try to draw attention to your videos in a non-intrusive, enticing manner rather than forcing them onto your visitors! Also, do away with the background music – it distracts visitors and prevents them from focusing on the actual website content. 

2. Content that has been written for search engines, not real people: People turn to the internet for solutions to problems that they may be encountering in their lives. If your website features content that provides them with a tangible, affordable and practical solution, they will trust you and buy the products that you recommend. However, if your content is spammy, generic, repetitive, erroneous and geared more towards search engines than people; you will have a very hard time converting your traffic into sales. The key to earning your visitor’s trust is to help rather than sell! 

3. Excessive pop-up advertisements: All web browsers are equipped with pop-up blockers. The reason for this is that pop-ups are immensely frustrating and annoying. They are a universal nuisance, they make you appear desperate and hurt your credibility. A single, relevant pop-up may be tolerable in some cases but if your visitors have to encounter a pop-up every time they click on a link on your website, they will literally curse out loud and attack the close button vigorously! 

4. Your website has not been optimized for mobile devices: Close to 70% of adults in the U.S. use their mobile phones to log on to the internet. If your website is not optimized for being accessed through mobile devices, your visitors will eventually get tired of zooming in and out and will go somewhere else! It is a tad more tedious to surf the web on a mobile device than on a traditional device such as a desktop or laptop. Thus, the people who choose to access the internet on a mobile device are actively looking for an immediately answer or solution. In short, they are much more likely to be in the 'buying' mindset than in the 'idle' mindset. The world is going more and more mobile each day and if you want to generate decent business then it is indispensible that you keep up! 

5. Navigating your website feels like being stuck in a maze: Your website should be ridiculously easy to navigate and more importantly, it should prompt your visitors to take action! Don’t expect your visitors to figure things out by themselves. Don’t keep your customers waiting; give them what they came for. For example: If you are offering a free download in exchange for email, don’t make your customers read several pages before they arrive at the download link. Serve it to them right away! Add navigation bars and shortcut links to improve the navigational usability of your website.

Having a fancy design is simply not enough to keep visitors attracted. Your website should excel in every aspect and deliver an almost surreal user experience. Try to strike the right balance between aesthetics and functionality. Feel free to seek professional help to make your website more user-friendly. You might end up spending a couple of bucks but you will achieve momentous gains in the long haul!

Learn more about optimization services from Website Optimization. Contact us today.

Website Optimization
3134 SUNNYWOOD DR
ANN ARBOR, MI 48103
Phone: (877) 748-3678
Fax: (734) 661-1331
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/
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