11 Ways To Drive Traffic Away From Your Website

W hy Web-Users Are So           Don' Speed-It-Up; Slow-It-Down     Impatient                                                                                      Website visitors are like the      While watching a Toronto Raptor       speedy T.J. Ford; they are so      basketball game I saw T.J. Ford,      intent on getting what they want   one of the fastest players in the     as quickly and efficiently as      league, rush down the court like      possible, that they often surf     a man possessed and proceed to        the Internet out-of-control.       throw the ball behind his back to                                        a trailing Andrea Bargnani. The       How many times have you sat in     trouble was the ball sailed over      front of the computer with your    the head of the seven-foot            hand resting on your mouse         Bargnani into the second row of       searching for some desired         seats. Ford, himself, ended up        product, service, or information,  with a beer and popcorn facial        when all of sudden you find what   after landing in the lap of a         looks like what you want, but      front row patron. So what does        before you even have a chance to   this have to do with website          discover exactly what it is, your  design and marketing you ask? A       hair-trigger finger decides it's   lot.                                 time to move-on. It's like your                                          finger has a mind of it's own.     As talented as Ford is a                                                 basketball player he sometimes        Speed Kills Marketing Efforts      plays out-of-control, and his                                            major asset, his speed, becomes a     All the talk and discussion about  liability. When this happens in a     short attention spans caused by    basketball game the answer is to      people raised on video games and   slow the game down and get back       quick-cut-edited music videos is   in control.                           very misleading.                                                                                            What website visitors won't           you are. And I say, the hell with  tolerate are websites that waste      them. These are the same people    their time, and many websites are     who won't wait their turn in a     guilty of exactly that. Contrary      brick and mortar store either,     to popular belief, the job of a       they demand to be served before    website designer, who understand      everyone else - it's just not      marketing, is not to speed up         possible to satisfy these people,  website visitors, but to slow         so why design your entire website  them down so they can absorb the      marketing around them. They are    marketing message.                    never going to hang around long                                          enough to grasp your message and   If you want your audience to          learn why they should be giving    remember you, if you want to make     you their business, so forget      an impression, if you want            about them.                        website visitors to understand                                           why they should give you their        The people you should be worrying  business, then you have to slow       about are the ones that really     them down long enough to absorb       want to find out more about what   your message. And that message        it is you do, and are prepared to  better be worth their while or        invest a little time and effort    they will never come back.            to give you a chance to explain                                          yourself. These are the important  It isn't about how fast a page        people; this is your real          loads; it's about delivering an       audience, and you disappoint them  appropriate payoff for the wait.      at your financial peril.                                                                                    Now I will admit there people who     The Reasons Why Web-users Are      absolutely, positively will not       Impatient                          wait more than eight seconds for                                         anything to load. You know who        The real reason website users are  so damn impatient is not that         but too much choice creates        they have such short attention        confusion: it's a case of          spans, it's because most websites     diminishing marginal utility.      are designed to meet perceived                                           company objectives, rather than       A well designed website explains,  audience needs.                       directs, guides, and focuses                                             visitor attention on the things    How To Drive Traffic Away From        that are of real benefit to your   Your Website                          visitors and to your company.                                                                               Let's take a look at some of the      Every business provides a variety  reasons why your website visitors     of products, services, and         may be leaving your website           information to their customers,    before they've had a chance to        but these things are not all of    hear what you have to say; or to      equal importance. Your website is  put it another way, if you want       a place to focus attention on      to drive traffic AWAY faster than     your core marketing message, not   you attract it, here are some of      a place to provide a shopping      the things you should do.             list of everything you are able                                         to do and every product or         1.Give Web-visitors Too Many          service you may be able to offer.  Options and Choices                                                      Social scientist and Swarthmore       2. Give Web-visitors Too Much      College professor, Barry              Information To Process             Schwartz, has coined the phrase,      Architect, author, and             "the paradox of choice." His          information designer, Richard      studies have concluded the more       Saul Wurman, in his book,          choice you give people, the less      'Information Anxiety' talks        likely they are to make a             about, "the ever-widening gap      decision. Some choice is good,        between what we understand and     what we think we should               that doesn't advance your major    understand."                          purpose: to deliver your                                                 marketing message in an            Good website design is about more     informative, engaging,             than technology and aesthetics;       entertaining, and memorable        it's about deciding what              manner. If it isn't relevant,      information needs to be presented     dump it.                           and what information needs to be                                         left out. If you are truly an         4. Give Web-visitors Too Many      expert in your field, you should      Irritating Distractions            know what information is              Websites should be designed to     important to your customers in        direct visitors to the             order for them to make a              information they want and that     decision. Too much information is     information should be the content  like too much choice, it confuses     you want to delivery.              rather clarifies. Focus on                                               delivering meaningful content or      You cannot sell someone a product  risk having your visitors hit the     or service they do not want. A     exit button.                          real prospect is one that needs                                          the same information you want to   3. Give Web-visitors Too Much         provide; the art of sales is       Non-relevant Content                  directing potential clients to     The only thing worse than             relevant information, and          overloading your website with         presenting it in a way that        more information than visitors        visitors see your product or       can absorb is confusing them with     service as fulfilling their        useless and non-relevant content.     needs.                                                                                                                                            On the surface, third-party        Non-relevant content is content       advertisements and banners may     seem like a good way to make some     won't deal with you make sure you  extra cash from your traffic, but     don't provide any contact          these ads become so distracting,      information: no contact names, no  visitors either get feed-up or        phone numbers, and no mailing      click on one of the links that        address is a sure sign that you    takes them away from your site.       won't look after any problems      Whatever few bucks you earn from      that arise from a website          these ads, you are loosing by         transaction.                       chasing real customers away; this                                        of course assumes you are a real      Your website must be designed to   business with something               build trust and foster a           legitimate to sell and not a          relationship, not scare people     website that's an excuse to           away.                              deliver advertisements.                                                                                        6. Give Web-visitors Too Many      Other nonsense like favorite          Decisions To Make                  links and silly fluff-content         How many decisions do you demand   merely distracts visitors from        from your visitors in order for    investigating your site to find       them to do business with you?      what they are looking for.                                                                                     Take for example the seemingly     5. Give Web-visitors Too Many Red     simple task of purchasing a new    Flags                                 television. Do you purchase the    Website visitors are constantly       inexpensive but old tube           looking for red flags that tell       technology, the newer Plasma       them that the site they are           technology, or the LCD             visiting should be skipped as         technology? How about all the      soon as possible.                     various features to choose from                                          like picture-in-picture,           If you want to make sure visitors     commercial skip-timers, and on     and on? All you really want to do     you attracted, and you are         is relax with your spouse and         guaranteeing that your next email  enjoy a good movie - is that on a     promotion will end up in the       VSH, DVD, Blu-ray, or HD-DVD?         trash.                                                                                                      7. Give Web-visitors Too Many        9. Give Web-visitors               Stumbling Blocks                      Incomprehensible Page Layouts      Do you make people go through the     Good design, proper page layout,   order processing system before        consistent navigation, and well    they can find out how much            organized information              something costs, or do you demand     architecture that promotes         potential customers read a            serendipity, helps visitors find   ridiculous amount of small print      what they're looking for and       legalese that only a lawyer could     provides a pleasant, efficient     understand?                           and rewarding experience for the                                         website visitor.                   If you want to drive traffic away                                        from your site make sure you          Website designs that rely on       build in as many stumbling blocks     technology, databases, and search  as possible.                          engine optimization rather than    8. Give Web-visitors Too Many         focused content, coherent          Forms TO Fill-in                      organization, articulate           Do you attract your visitors with     presentation, and a memorable,     special offers or free white          rewarding experience are designs   papers and then demand that they      designed to chase traffic away.    fill-out complex forms, surveys,                                         and questionnaires before you         10. Give Web-visitors Too Many     give them access to what they         Confusing Instructions             came for? If you do, you are          One of the most frustrating        probably losing a lot of people       experiences website visitors       encounter is confusing                reasons as possible to leave your  instructions and incoherent           site: irrelevant links to your     explanations of how your product      favorite sites, links to your      or service works or how to order      suppliers because you're too       what you are selling.                cheap to put their information on                                        your own site, or any combination  11. Give Web-visitors Too Many        of the reasons mentioned above,    Reason To Click-out                   all contribute to driving traffic  If you really are determined to       away from your site.               fail, make sure you provide                                           website visitors with as many          About the Author: Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, http://www.136words.com, and http://www.sonicpersonality.com. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246. Read more articles by: Jerry Bader Article Source: www.iSnare.com