The real challenge in understanding how to improve your website comes in installing and interpreting analytical software.  Now, I won’t drone on about all of the benefits to installing Google Analytics.  Just get it done and start to look at your traffic.

Monitoring what people are doing when they get to your site (”bouncing” vs. clicking) and where they are going can help you determine what features your site might be lacking.

What I see most often is that visitors love to click on pictures.  Pictures are incredibly important – they convey your website’s style and priorities all at once.  If your homepage images do not lead to something valuable on your website, begin there and watch the flow of the traffic.  A picture is worth a thousand clicks – a new (and bad) cliche.

OPO is about user experience.  It can be difficult to look at your own website through fresh eyes.  Try to lead users to your product as quickly as possible, while still providing the most essential information to help them stay oriented on your site.  NOTE: Users tend to read left to right, top to bottom, in English-speaking nations.  The top of your homepage needs to grab and entice immediately (without providing so many options that users bounce feeling overwhelmed).

Websites are maps to important information or a goal of some sort.  The more roadblocks there are between the user and the goal, the harder the conversion.  Make it easy to win, hard to lose, and fun to succeed.  Use attractive images, high-value space above the fold, and your own goals to pave an easy path for your users with OPO.

Videos create a lasting impression for visitors, engaging users to stay on websites longer and make more purchases. Research indicates that embedded videos are not as highly-valued as proprietary site-run videos. Some have reported a 55% jump in conversions after enabling videos about their services on their website!

If you or your client are looking to boost traffic and sales, getting them involved with a quality video production company might be just what they need. Make sure the video is:

High quality
Completely original
Informative
Linking to the product or services you offer directly

Happy SEOing,
Tanya