Reader's Favorite Nuggets
Recent Hits All Time Matt's Favorites
Recent Reader's Favorites

Our Nugget List

Making a Good Impression on Website Visitor

by
Making a Good Impression on Website Visitor 8410-daily-golden-nugget-608It's the eve of Thanksgiving in the United States. Many people are taking today off from work to cook while many retail stores are getting set for the start of the massive sales cycle that starts on Friday morning, Black Friday.

By now I expect all retailers have sent out their first flight of ads. It doesn't matter if these ads are inviting customers to your website or to your store; strangely enough all ads increase traffic to your site because people will want more information.

For the last few years Google has been publishing many consumer behavior reports showing that people simply like to look at your website before visiting your store. Every time you run a newspaper ad, radio ad, TV commercial, or send direct mail you will always see a slight increase in websites visitors who searched for your store name. You may also see an increase in searches for your store name with your town name if your store name is similar to another. (Exactly how many Smith Jewelers are there anyway?)

It doesn't matter if you have your website address printed in all your ads, people are more likely to quickly search for your store name online than type in your website address. Want to know how effective your direct mail is at driving traffic to your website? Next time you send a mailing you should take a close look at Google Analytics for increased store name searches.

As usual, once someone arrives at your site you only have a short time to make an impression and gain their business. You can cater the customer experience and make a better impression if you know how visitors navigate your website. Tracking behavior is tricky business, and if you've got a reasonable website budget you should tell your website programmer to activate user tracking on your site for the holiday season.

On the other hand, simply knowing the most popular pages on your website will also help make a good impression. Knowing which pages are popular allows you to carefully place relevant holiday information.

Current sales, changes in store hours, daily deals, and event announcements can all be strategically placed around your website to help guarantee they will be seen.

Other than the home page of your website, here's a list of the most popular pages I've tracked for the last 6 months in order of their popularity:

1. Store Hours page
2. Contact Us page
3. Error page
4. Pages with "engagement ring" in the name.
5. Directions page
6. Online Catalog landing pages
7. Gold Buying/Selling pages
8. About Us pages
9. Blog landing pages
10. Designers We Carry landing pages

Each of these pages presents an opportunity for you. Consumers won't expect to see ads on your Contact, Directions, or Store Hours pages but they are prime online real estate for your site.

Everyone always overlooks the Error page as a source of advertising, but it is. Along with the typical "404 page not found" message you should also take the opportunity to tell the visitor about something special, including your recent ad.

The holiday season is the best time of year to be proactive with your website. Make changes daily if possible because different people will arrive every day expecting to see the most up to date information. You certainly will give a good impression if your site is updated daily.
AT: 11/21/2012 09:27:35 PM   LINK TO THIS GOLD NUGGET
Confused and worried about your mobile website options? Click here to find out how to get your own website evaluation and a game plan to make it better.

Like This Jewelry Website SEO Gold Nugget? Please Share!

Like Our Site? Follow Us!


0 Comments on Making a Good Impression on Website Visitor

Post a Comment
Name:

Check here for Anonymous
Email

Website:

 
Please contact me at the phone number and address below
Phone Number

Address:

 
Comment:

 
User Verification
4 9 6 7 3 9 3 6
Please enter the number you see in the box.
[ What's This? ]
Sign Up For Emailed Daily Gold Nuggets

"...articles are easy to follow and seem to have information one can use right away."
-Ann, Gallery 4, Hamden CT


"...serious kudos to you. We love your straight talk, pertinent information and plain language. I don't know how many industries have something of jWAG's caliber available, but I learn from the emails every day. Really, really nice work, and very appreciated."
-Cheryl Herrick, Global Pathways Jewelry