eMarketer published, "15 Reasons Why Shoppers Leave Your Site." This sparked some thoughts on how to keep your shoppers from leaving.
1. Pop-up ads
[Maya] I really hate pop-up windows on the homepage. A pop-up that’s just an ad, that’s an even more annoying form of
interruption marketing. I don’t mind pop-ups if I am asked for something that I want or when I click a link to find out more. I also don’t mind pop-ups as much when I leave the site (for example, an exit survey where a company cares about your opinions so they can improve their website, product or service). Yes, use pop-up ads sparingly or integrate ads throughout the website in a more subtle fahion.
2. Need to install software to view site
[Maya] Do you feel like you have more than enough plug-ins / software installed on your computer so you can watch flash animations, listen to audio or even view online video? Unless it’s the most popular plug-ins like Adobe Reader, Flash, Quicktime, and/or Realplayer, then the only time new software needs to be installed should be:
- To upgrade your current plug-ins
- The software will be used for a website you’ll be using or visiting often
I use the Firefox browser which prevents pop-ups and also asks me to confirm if I want to download new software. The questions that pop in my head are:
- Why should I install software just for one website?
- Will this new software conflict with any of my existing software (which has occured in the past)?
- Can I trust to download the software virus-free?
3. Dead links
[Maya] We all hate clicking on a link and getting that infamous, "Page cannot be found" or "HTTP 404 - File not found" message. Did you know you can customize and create a Perfect 404 Page so that the message includes:
- A link to redirect your web visitors to your homepage, search feature or sitemap
- Your contact information
Allow customers to inform you that they had problems with your site. Listen to them and take action to make browsing your website easy.
4. Need to register and log in
[Maya] My biggest question with these sites, "What do I get for registering?" You get me to your site but then close off the rest of your site so I can’t sneak a better peak. I usually never go back to these websites that don’t offer a compelling enough incentive to leave my information with them. For example, when I’m just shopping for retail products, I don’t care to leave my information with the company when the only benefit is the next time I shop at their website (if there is a next time), I don’t have to retype my information onto the form. I type fast so it’s not much of an incentive. Some online retailers have been smart enough to offer an option to purchase products as guests or to create an account. Options, that’s nice!
5. Slow-loading.
[Maya] Are you like me? I need to get and find information fast, fast, fast. If I can’t see content, at least some text, in a few seconds then I skip and go to the next website resource. Try to keep your web pages less than 30k in size, including images. If someone is visiting your site using a 56kbps modem connection (according to Nielsen/NetRatings only 28% are narrowband users back in May 2006), it might take around 20 seconds for your page to fully download to their browser. Internet users with broadband connections can download your site in approximately 6-7 seconds.
The Web Page Analyzer that gives your web page a speed test.
6. Out-of-date content.
[Maya] Now, out-of-date content is different from just very old content. There might be a great article or case study that’s over a year old that visitors can still benefit from but if you no longer offer a product or service and you haven’t updated the website… well, that’s a no-no!
7. Confusing navigation
[Maya] Okay. Everyone has their quirks. A friend of mine can’t get away with wearing white clothing of any kind because they are a stain magnet – she is a bit accident prone when it comes to eating. Myself? If I’m driving somewhere new, I have a high probability of getting lost. Yeah, it’s frustrating but I’ve accepted it and plan around my idiosyncrasies by leaving much earlier than usual. So as a web visitor, it can be frustrating and a big waste of time if they can’t find the information they need from your website.
8. Ineffective site search
[Maya] If you’re going to offer a site search, create one that spits out relevant results. You’ve been there, right? You type in a keyword and the results of your search have nothing to do with the keywords you searched for.
9. No contact information available.
[Maya] Rule of Thumb: Give your web visitor a way to contact you on every page of your website. Every page of your website should have a call-to-action statement – call me, tell us, download this… you get the picture?!
10. Can’t use "back" button.
[Maya] I don’t know where and why this trend started. Every internet surfer uses the "back" button! Why disable what people are so used to?
11. Overdone with flash/animation
[Maya] "Overdone" - that’s a great term. You’ve heard the saying, "too much of anything can be bad for you." Don’t create something flashy just for the sake of flash. Flash should be used for good, not evil design.
12. Moving text
[Maya] I’m not sure what they mean by this, but I know making text left-aligned makes it easy for web visitors to read your content.
13. Music and audio
[Maya] It depends. If you’re on a music website, it’s appropriate. If you’re looking for podcasts to listen to, it’s appropriate. Stay away from having background music instantly playing when someone visits your website. Why? Have you ever visited a website and suddenly got frightened because the volume of some background music was too loud? You start trying to figure out how to shut it off or turn down the speakers on your computer. What are you doing? Distracting your website visitor from moving forward with what they wanted to find or learn on your website.
14. Poor appearance
[Maya] Content is still king of your website but the design (look and feel) can support or hinder a good first impression of you, your business and products/services.
15. Opening new window for link
[Maya] Again… it depends. Here’s one thought. You know visitors want to use the "Back" button. If a link opens up a new window, sometimes visitors do not notice that a new window has popped up. They try to go back but don’t realize that all they have to do is close that new window. Could this be just a very small percentage of your web visitors? The idea is that you want to make navigation easy. Personally, I often use external links that open to a new window but I don’t open a new window for internal links.
Your Thoughts:
Tell us - Do you mind links that opens a new internet browser?
Does boring sell better? Okay. Yes, “boring” is subject to debate as each of us have our own definition of a boring web site. Some might say a “boring” website is simple website. The visitor visited the “boring” website, found what they needed and was able to accomplish whatever goal they set for themselves. Pretty boring but embraces web usability by not distracting visitors to get their task accomplished on your site. 
Working on my Website, but who will Host it?