Apr
Do Your Visitors Know, Like, and Trust Your Website?
You have probably heard by now that for someone to do business with you they need to know, like, and trust you. Did you know that they also need to know, like, and trust your website? That’s because your website represents your business, and your business is you.
One of the ways your visitors will trust your website is by making things consistent. Surprises in websites are almost always bad. You know you hate pop-ups. You can’t trust them. Links that appear and disappear will make your visitor uneasy and, well, untrusting of you. Your visitor needs to feel comfortable enough with you that they take out their wallet and make a purchase.
It seems logical, yet I see all sorts of things when it comes to navigation links. The navigation links are the links that help your visitors move throughout your website. These links should be the same on every page. They should also be in the same place on every page. No surprises.
Picture this, you are moving along from page to page, really getting into the content on the site. It’s exactly what you’ve been looking for. You’re ready to go to the next page. But, wait! Where’s the links? Where’d they go? What kind of trick is this?
Now, instead of happily moving along to the page where they ask you to take out your credit card, you are stuck. What’s that saying, “A confused mind always says no.”
Having different links on each page makes your website look amateur. You want to guide your visitor through your website. So, don’t unnerve them by changing the placement of the links on each page.
You can have your navigation links at the top. You can have them on the left. Some people even put them on the right. Where ever you put them, just don’t make your visitor have to search for the links to move about your site.
Another thing, if you are linking to a page within your site, do not make it open in a new window. You want your links to be doorways to the rest of the pages. You only want your links to open in a new window when the link will take the person outside of your site. For those of you who don’t like links that open in a new window, it’s perfectly all right to add a note stating, “This link will open in a new window.” No surprises, right?
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