Your next visit to the mall will be a lesson in web design
Last week I was walking through the dreaded mall with my family. As I browsed the storefronts and window displays I realized I was witnessing marketing at play. I was carrying what felt like 200 pounds of shopping bags, pushing a stroller and was in no mood to browse. I took about five seconds to glance at each store’s promotions to let my subconscious decide if I should skip it or take a closer look. I peeked through the windows as I shoved some more goldfish crackers into my toddlers’ mouths. Did I have time to go in? Anything I needed to buy?
I often think about the marketing that goes into those shop windows: the hooks and promotions used to get me in the door. Inside the store there’s even more marketing to turn me from a person browsing to a customer.
Many things at play move me toward a purchase: clear navigation, lack of clutter, style, no wait time, product placement, and marketing messages. The same concepts apply to your website and become critical in converting the window shoppers to paying customers. Clear direction is the starting point.
Create clear navigation
A homepage is the most visited and therefore most important page of a website. Most new visitors (potential clients) begin here.
If I were to offer you a potential client right now and send them to your homepage, what would you want them to read or click? My guess is you probably want them to contact you to book an appointment more than you want them to a link to read your blog.
Write down specific goals for your homepage, including the priority of each goal on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 is best). For example:
- Contact me to schedule an appointment ì 5
- View my photo gallery ì 5
- Subscribe to something (Email, Facebook, Twitter, RSS) ì 3
- View my photography blog ì 1
- View informational text or other important pages (about me, pricing, etc.) ì 1
In this case, your homepage should look like this:
Notice how each section has clear commands that tell the user what to do (view, contact, subscribe) and the least important information is smallest and at the bottom of the page. If you set out the clear direction you want people to take, you’ll soon be converting the window shoppers into paying customers.
Zach Prez
Photography Marketing Consultant
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Learn more about web design in the Photography Web Marketing Guide. Get 35+ pages of recommendations on SEO, social media, and email marketing.
Zach Prez is a dad and social cyclist who loves to talk marketing over a cup of Lipton tea. Connect with him at www.facebook.com/zachprez. |
