Does Your Home Page Help or Hinder Sales?

statistics show that a person who has a bad online shopping experience tells five times as many people about it as someone who has a good experience.

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First and foremost, it has to download fast. How fast? Eight to ten seconds is ideal.

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• Is the look and feel professional?
  
  
• Is the navigation obvious and simple? (And is it consistent throughout your site?)
  
  
• Is your unique selling proposition (USP) clearly stated and strong?
  
  
• Is your information architecture constructed from the visitor's point of view?
  
  
• Does your navigation anticipate and clearly support all reasonable path choices?
  
  
• Does the layout reflect knowledge of eye scanning patterns and "sweet spots"?
  
  
• Does the choice of page elements reflect knowledge of how visitors use text versus graphics online as opposed to in print?
  
  
• Are the graphics and the text appropriate and well chosen/written?
  
  
• Does the page reflect principles of good usability?
  
  
• Does the page utilize expert sales principles that encourage a buying decision (which I explained in my last article)?
  
  
• Does the page utilize knowledge about consumer psychology and the different personality types?
  
  
• Does the page make use of knowledge about online buying behavior?
  
  
• Does the page inspire trust and build rapport? (Be aware that security is more of an emotional issue than a technology one.)
  
  
• Is contact info easy to find?
  
  
• Is help available? Is it user-centered (versus tech-centered)?
  
  
• How many help channels do you provide? (e.g., email, FAQ, phone, live on the web)
  
  
• Are the smallest details, such as fonts and colors, chosen with an understanding of all of the above and a knowledge of what maximizes sales?
  
  
• Does the page delight visitors and inspire them to go deeper into the site? Does it actually guide them in doing so?

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Does the page grab visitors' attention -- in about eight seconds?

Does the page stimulate their interest and reinforce that they're in the right place?

Does the page inspire the desire to take the action of clicking deeper toward a purchase?

Is how to take that action obvious and easy?

After they've clicked, does the next page give them satisfaction by providing them with exactly what they wanted exactly how they wanted it?

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