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Building_your_website_for_visitors
| Building your website for visitors
There are numerous articles and sites that advise on how to
improve websites for search engine optimisation. SEO is, of
course, vital for increasing the number of visitors to a
website. However, never forget that it is visitors that turn
into customers and make the money. Remember to keep visitors in
mind at all times when building and designing a site. With this
in mind, here are some pointers…
Professionalism A site should look professional and has had some
time and effort put into it rather than give the impression that
it has been put together in someone’s bedroom in their spare
time. This immediately gives visitors a good impression of your
business and the confidence to make a purchase.
Images Use images relevant to your product. At
www.primaryinsurance.co.uk we use travel images’, as travel
insurance is our main product. Using images that contain people
rather than graphics works in this industry but might not be
right for all.
Colour Scheme Select a colour scheme that reflects the product
you sell. For example our pink, blue and yellow scheme, together
with the images, is designed to remind customers of their
holiday and think positively when purchasing travel insurance,
which is essentially a commodity product. The white space and
surround provides subtly and prevents the colours from being too
overpowering.
Navigation Make sure the site is easy to navigate and your main
products are in a prominent position on your homepage. Secondary
or complementary products can either be listed further down the
page or on a separate page. This ensures visitors are drawn to
the products that you want them to buy.
Effective copy Again there are numerous articles on writing
effective copy. The key point to remember is that it provides
the customer with information about who you are and what you
sell whilst containing a reasonable amount of keywords. If the
copy reads well, the number of keywords should be acceptable.
Always remember to update regularly as customers and search
engines love up to date content.
Feedback forms Feedback forms are a useful way to get ideas for
improving your site in a way that benefits your customers. Once
implemented conversion should start to increase, meaning you get
a greater return on advertising investment.
Contact details Having a phone number and an address where you
can be contacted gives customers confidence that you are an
established business and are happier to transact online. Don’t
hide away your contact details in the hope no one will use them.
Links Links in and out of the site should be for the benefit of
visitors as well as search engines. Remember you can be
selective when obtaining links and make sure all links are
relevant to the product you are selling and the industry you
operate in.
About the author:
Karl Norris is the E-Commerce Manager for Primary Insurance,
www.primaryinsurance.co.uk. As a finance professional he focuses
on generating and increasing profitability from online business
activities.
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