From BizWeb2000
I've recently phased in some changes at my bizweb2000.com home page and the results have been fantastic. Not only am I receiving almost twice the number of new subscribers to my BizWeb eGazette, I've seen an increase in first-time customers as well.
Today I'll share each new component of my new page so that you may consider similar changes at your site...
For starters, take a quick peek at the old and the new:
Old Home Page
New Home Page
As you can see, visually, the pages are quite different. But the changes go deeper than looks. Here's a breakdown of the stuff "behind the scenes" and the instant results yielded...
Component #1: Speed
You'll notice right away that the new page is "less busy". Not only is it cleaner and fresher, it loads in half the time it took the old one to load. I made the mistake of being "married" to that old page for far too long. The fact is, that bloated graphic (top right) took far too long to load and was costing me visitors. Internet surfers are an impatient lot. I know that all too well, I've clicked away from many a slow-loading web page in my web travels.
Component #2: Text at the top
See the yellow text at the top of the new home page? Adding that text resulted in better search engine ranking within two weeks. I've seen a clear increase in the number of visitors coming from google.com and a handful of other engines. Even Yahoo! has added a new listing for my site under "Internet Marketing". That may not be related to the new text, but it's quite a coincidence that it happened after four years.
But perhaps the best part of the text is that it loads immediately and lets visitors know why they should stick around. And they are!
Component #3: Direct Links to my best products
People love a deal, so give them one right away! Too many sites hide even their best products and services too deep into their site. If you're not displaying at least one of your best products prominently on your entry page, you're losing sales - guaranteed.
Component #4: Smart links
See the links on the left side of the new page? Those text links take visitors to important destinations at my site. It makes navigation easier and lets me get visitors to key areas of site quickly.
But it's the icons under my BizWeb2000 logo that get clicked on the most. I did a little research and learned that this particular area of any home page is where the eyes of most visitors go first. A clean and simple navigation system there puts a visitor in the right frame of mind and makes them feel comfortable with your site. Snazzy icons connected to your best links should be right there.
Component #5: Oh no, a PopUp?
Yes, I finally tried a popup and frankly I'm sorry I waited this long. I resisted for more than a year because I didn't want to annoy my visitors. So far I've received zero complaints and a even handful of compliments.
More importantly, I am now receiving nearly double the amount of new subscribers to my BizWeb eGazette every single day. Before the Popup I average 60 new subscribers a day and after the Popup was implemented I went right to an average of 105 a day.
The popup screen gives away my free book and gazette subscriptions. Here are a few things that make it work better than the average popup...
It comes up on exit so visitors are not immediately hit with it. And it is also controlled with a cookie so that visitors get it just once within any single day, no matter how many times they exit the page. If you're going to add a popup to your site to try and get more opt-in subscribers, I highly suggest you set it up like that. Otherwise popups can be aggravating and counterproductive.
As far as setting it up, it took me an hour or so. I'm no expert on javascript so luckily one of my regulars at my Cybermarketing Infoboard, Paul Austin of austinsgroup.com had just set one up and he gave me a hand. Thanks Paul!
There you have it. Proof that settling in with any one look for too long is counterproductive. If you have not made any changes to your home page in a long time, consider trying one of those components. I'm sure you'll see immediate results!