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How to Get Your Point Across on Your Website

Ever feel like your website just sort of...sits there? It's great to have a website to promote your business but without a specific goal and plan to achieve that goal, you're not going to get much out of it.

Your website may have several goals in mind, but most likely a couple of them are more important than the rest. You don't have to exclude the secondary goals, but SOMETHING has to stand out.

Any web designer will tell you that the first thing to do is figure out specifically what it is you want your web visitors to do. Here are some ideas of actions you want your web visitors to take right from your website:

• Request a price quote straight from the website
• Receive online donations via credit card
• Find out about a specific product or service
• Stay updated on local events or attractions

OK so you have your goals figured out. How to you get your web visitors to do anything?

Here is the 3 step process to get results on your site:

1. Web user sees something interesting
2. Web user clicks a link to find out more
3. You tell them how to take action

Web user sees something interesting

So how do you make sure your web user sees something interesting? Here's how - repetition. Don't just mention it once and hope they get the message. You should list it in 3 different places:

1. Main navigation - on our website, the main navigation is the blue menu bar at the very top. Anything important should be accessible through the main navigation.
   
   We utilize the drop down menus for secondary pages and we recommend that you do the same. It makes it much easier on your web users.
   
   
2. Buttons or graphics - we have a couple buttons on the right side of our page that we REALLY want our web users to click on. It's in the menu at the top also, but we repeat it on the side as a button because we want to make sure people visit it.
   
   
3. In the main content area of your text - most people will click on a button like in #2 long before they read the text on your website. But you should still mention important things in the body of your text.

If you emphasize your key points in these 3 places than you your web users should notice it.

Web user clicks a link to find out more

How do you get them to actually click that button? That's another topic by itself, but you need to use a good call to action button. Here's one of our articles that describes how to create a good call to action button.

After your user clicks a call to action button you only have one more step to take.

You tell them how to take action

There are 2 good ways to make a conversion on a website. You want your web visitor to either call you, or fill out a contact form. Make these two options very easy to do. Some people are more likely to fill out a form, others want to call. Give options and keep it simple.

Here's a couple examples of sites which have a nice and simple Contact Us page with phone number and a contact form:

• http://themasterstouchpainting.com/contact/
• http://seashellmotel.org/contact/
• http://www.haleyesgenerators.com/about-us/contact-us

We hope these tips helps you get your point across on your website, and helps give you a more effective online presence.

Don't forget to contact us if you need a free consultation on your website or internet marketing.

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