There is an important thing that you can do to improve your website that is so easy. Last month I achieved a 0% bounce rate on my employers website by using this strategy (from visitors that found the website through a Google search).  “Bounce rate” is the percentage of visitors that leave your website right away.  A high bounce rate is bad, because visitors quickly decided your website is not worth their time. I want to share this advise with you because I want you to be able to get a 0% bounce rate too!

How did I get a 0% bounce rate?  I can summarize it in one line:

Always have a follow through link at the end of any web page.

This will keep visitors browsing through your website, and it will direct them straight to the content you want them to see. Without it, visitors have no where to go. Unless they know that they can find exactly what they want in your menu and don’t have to scroll back up too far to find it, they will probably leave your website using the trusty “back” button and continue their Google search.

Is this the only thing you need to do?  The short answer is “no”.  You need to get their attention before you can ask them to go to the next page.  There are some other strategies that come into play (which I will describe in future posts…  subscribe to my RSS feed), but just like in many sports the “follow through” is probably the most important. Based on my research, putting a link at the bottom of any content is a winning strategy, especially if you ask the visitor for action or endorse the page where the link leads. I would call this a “trial close”.  In sales the “close” is when you get commitment from a customer to buy (signing a contract, giving you a cheque, etc.). The “trial close” is a call to action to find out if visitors are interested in your product or service. By clicking a link (i.e. “click here to find out more” or “click here to buy this product”)  they have committed more time on your website. They have committed to learning more, or have an interest in buying.  The “trial close” will tell you if the customer is ready to buy into your product/service. This is also the ideal place to ask for customer information. If they are commmitted to learning more or buying the product, they will probably give you their contact information so they can get the information or product from you.

I hope this information helps you develop your online business skills, specifically online sales.
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Frank Forte