Top 10 reasons visitors prematurely leave your website

Leave: (Synonym) Depart, Abandon, Desert, Ditch

1. Poor Site Navigation: How many times have you visited a website and gotten lost among the pages? You start navigating through a site and suddenly, there is no link to the main page or even a map of the site. Every page looks and feels different, the navigation menu and links are never the same or in the same place. Worst of all, you cannot find or go back to the page where you found the information you deemed relevant. Poor site navigation is the number one reason people (potential customers) leave websites before they, and especially you and/or your organization, would have liked. Proper website design focuses, not only on aesthetics, features and content, but in building a user interface that is easy, intuitive, and consistent throughout. Some key pointers include:

• Provide a navigation menu that is located on every page and is located on the same place.
• Create a user-accessible site map page of the website.
• Provide a search function that allows users to find pertinent information faster and more accurately.
• Group common categories and information.
• Provide a 'You are here' pointer that tells your website visitors exactly how they got to a specific page.
• Remember, each visitor is a potential customer. A customer who leaves your website early is a dissatisfied customer, and someone who may not be interested in doing business with your organization.

2. Color Selection: An important aspect of the aesthetics of a website is color selection. Remember that websites are different than printed media; colors on a website tend to be more vibrant and web designers have a million more choices than that of their printed media counterparts. There have been many marketing studies that specifically address the question of colors and the customers psyche (i.e. blue and white tend to be very pleasing to the eye, while purple is considered more neutral, and red can have a negative connotation). Web designers must also keep in mind that a website tends to be accessible to millions more than printed media, so the demographics and their likes and dislikes are much more varied. Chose colors and color combinations that attract the majority of your potential customer-base, while keeping in mind your demographics. Also consider that what is appealing to you, may be different to a multitude of prospective customers. Chose your imagery, backgrounds, and text color carefully; while contrasting colors can be good, sometimes too much or too little contrast can cause eye strain, especially when reading. However, highlight colors for important facts or specials can attract sales. Be careful when using highlight colors, as the human eye will tend to focus in those areas and detract visitors from viewing other areas of the webpage. As a web designer, you must also keep in mind your visually impaired visitors. The conclusion is that poor color selection can deviate people from visiting your site, therefore, have an adverse impact on your business.

3. Encroached Designs: Have you ever visited a website the looks too ‘busy’ to the eye? How about websites with animated images, too many banner advertisements, or even pop-up windows? You are not alone. We specifically use the term encroachment to describe all of those scenarios. Here are a few facts:

• It takes less than 8 seconds for people to form their first opinion.
• It could take a lifetime to change a person’s first opinion.
• The human eye tends to work from left to right.
• The human brain tends to become distracted by moving objects.
• The human brain maintains an acceptable level of focus for up to forty (40) minutes.
• Information is the key to success, and today’s technology has made it simpler and faster to disseminate vast amounts of it around the world.

4. Irrelevance: Have you ever been to a website that ranked high on search results of your favorite search engine, only to discover its content was partially or totally irrelevant to the subject you queried? Many web designers and website marketers have engaged in the poor practice of embedding keywords and phrases to their websites that are unrelated to their subject matter. This practice allows website operators to drive their visitor traffic up by boosting their ranking with the search engines (e.g. Yahoo, Google, etc.). Not only is this unethical, but it may also affect maintaining long standing search results. Proper etiquette and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) management provides a more lasting presence. As a web designer, your website must live up to the visitors’ expectations that you provide relevant information to their inquiry. There are many SEO management strategies and rules. Follow them properly your website will thrive, do not and it may be penalized. One misconception has been that the only way to rank up on the search engines is by spending your hard-earned money in web marketing campaigns. While this is not an uncommon practice and has been very beneficial to many, you can still draw great results without breaking the bank. In fact, most of the major search engines do not require any fees or extra steps to add you to their index of websites. Develop and present your content carefully. Most successful websites are those that their content meets the visitors’ expectations. Remember, honesty is the best policy; it will give your website long lasting results, and it will drive new, as well as return visits traffic up to your website.

5. Broken Links: A poor website is a broken website. It is unbelievably, yet understandably frustrating to website visitors to finally find a site that provides specifically relevant content, only to find that the information they were looking for is unavailable. The Internet is a vast world. When a web visitor passes through potentially hundreds of websites in a search engine results, and finally manages to find relevant information, the expectation is that it will be available and at their disposal. Again, it is all about the visitors expectations. Web developers must regularly test their websites and check all available links. This is especially important when linking to third-party websites, for which you do not have control. Web designers must correct or eliminate any and all broken links. While we are on the subject, proper web designs open external links in a new window. This practice allows visitors to view pertinent content from third-parties without exiting your website.

6. Outdated Material: Websites should be updated regularly, especially date sensitive material such as news articles, product quantities, and special offers. It is an acceptable practice to archive content for posterity but it is highly important to keep your content fresh, accurate, and up-to-date. Remember, having outdated material on your website tells visitors that you do not care nor have time for them.

7. Lack of quality content: Take the time to write and present your content properly and accurately. Write as if you are speaking to prospective customers. Let them know what you and/or your company have to offer. Building and operating accurate, up-to-date, and content-rich websites gives visitors a reason to visit, stay and return to your site.

8. Lack of qualifications/credentials: Whether you operate an E-commerce or a rich-content website, show visitors your qualifications. Let them know why they should visit your website, choose your company, and/or chose you. This gives visitors a reason to visit, stay and return to your website. Remember, each visitor is a potential customer, so do not be afraid to show how your experience(s) will benefit them.

9. Not enough product choices: If you operate an e-commerce, online catalog or service oriented website, provide choices to your visitors (potential customers). This means taking the time to present all of the products and variations you have to offer. There is stiff competition on the Internet; variety and expertise will sustain visitor interest on a website.

10. Poor Point of Sale (POS) user interface: Shopping on the Internet can be very intimidating. Shoppers are aware, more than ever, about the potential hazard of providing their credit card information over the web. It is for this reason that a sites must provide good shopping experience, not only by the quality of the products or services, but by providing a user interface (UI) that is intuitive and easy to use.. Before publishing an E-commerce site, test every possible purchasing scenario (e.g. test shipping feature, payment options, and try to follow your shopping and payment instructions). Remember, if a customer cannot complete their purchase or has a difficult time doing so, they know they can find the same products and/or service(s) somewhere else with less hassle.

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