Are You Losing Out On Web Traffic?

The web has opened up all sorts of possibilities. If you have an idea of something you think people might be interested in – whether it’s based around providing information, entertaining people or selling products – you now have a way to reach billions of people at minimal cost. The internet really does deliver something astonishing when you consider it like that.

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But at the same time, it also brings competition. As the barriers for entry are so low, you’re basically competing against every other website for attention and if there’s one thing we aren’t short of in this world – it’s websites. Users are aware of this and the knowledge affects their behaviour. We have all become incredibly discriminating when we surf the web, clicking away from sites in an instant for the most spurious reasons. Any failing is sufficient because you can be certain that somewhere out there lies a better alternative.

So what can you do to ensure you don’t lose out on web traffic? There are plenty of things you simply cannot get wrong if you want to attract users.

Load times
This Kissmetric infographic explains how load times affect your business. Basically, the longer a page takes to load, the more likely it is that the user will abandon and go elsewhere. That user may never return. You might not lose out on just one sale or just one visit – that user could have been someone who would have returned again and again. Even when the person does stick around, slow load times decrease satisfaction and reflect poorly on the company in question. Remember that the more visitors you have, the more demands will be placed on your server. Plan for success and pay for hosting which can cope with more traffic.

Use of language
If yours is an information site or one where the central purpose is the writing on offer, you simply cannot succeed without being a half-decent writer. Poor writing is an instant turn-off for users and if even one page is hard to read, a visitor landing on that page will take that as a representation of everything else that is on offer. Bear this in mind when considering accepting guest posts and the like.

Poor writing also has an impact on ecommerce sites’ success or failure. If people see misspelt titles or incomprehensible product descriptions they will characterise your company as one that is not professional and which doesn’t pay attention to detail. Whether that’s fair or not doesn’t matter – they will leave.

Web design
Information sites tend to make their money from advertising and advertising is one of the biggest turn-offs for users. If it becomes invasive, people will leave. Similarly, if you sell products or a service, you need to make your site as easy to use as possible otherwise people will quickly lose patience.

Terence Oldbury runs several moderately successful information websites and advises businesses how to attract visitors as well. He usually advises using coredais.co.uk for web design purposes.