Is Info-dumping killing your conversions?

We all want our site to be the one everyone remembers, the go to portal for information and the ultimate in stickiness (that's when people hang out on our sites to get more information.) Often, business owners cram their site with as much information as possible, with bells, whistles, videos, songs, background noise, you name it, all in an effort to keep the traffic you've attracted around long enough so they can learn something, anything about your company.  But are you killing your conversions by giving away too much?

Web design is an art form that takes time to learn, however, sometimes the idea of the web designer and the mission of the site are not going in the same direction. Your web designer may want to show off their latest flash animation skills, while your visitors could care less and just want the information. It's your job to find a balance between cutting edge technology and advances in what you can offer on your site, and providing a solution to your client's problem, the reason they visited you in the first place.

So how do you find that balance?

First, remove everything that doesn't advance the mission of the website. What is the mission of the site, you ask? Think about the action you want a visitor to take when they visit with you. Some websites are information portals, and want to get the visitor to subscribe to the blog. So a simple, elegant design is enough for their visitors. Clients want to get in, grab the info in five hundred words or less, and move on. Other sites want to move the visitor towards a subscription, or a sales process, or even just entertain. No matter what the mission of your site, be sure to element everything that is unnecessary.

This may include the life-altering video conference that touts your credentials, but is eating up bandwidth and creating a very dissatisfied visitor who clicks out before the message is even started. Move the video to another page, and give site visitors the option of clicking on the link. You can even embed links within the text so that visitors remain on the main page, but can choose to move in, out and around the site.

Once you establish the purpose of your site, and hopefully, it's more than just an electronic brochure, think of ways it can provide solutions to your client's problems. No matter what business you are in, you are in the solutions business. Every solution is a chance for you to create a remarkable interaction with your customer, which turns into talking points and generates great word of mouth. If you have a recipe site and you link to money saving coupons for visitors, who then refer more friends to your site to get coupons as well, then you have found success. Ask yourself how your site looks from your customer's eyes. On the Internet, most people want speed and convenience, instant answers that move them in the right direction.

If your site isn't providing the solutions, if your site is slow to load, or full of too many distractions, or even annoying, it's time to bring in the professionals. Your time is money, and if no one is spending time on your site, you're wasting money. Experts in online marketing can save you money and time by developing a strategic plan for your site and executing your online marketing initiatives. A professional online marketing firm can help you turn your site into an information destination that will keep your visitors coming back again and again, engaged in a dialogue about you and your products.