What Causes Your Website To Sink Like A Lead Weight In Cyberspace?

I’ve discovered that fishing and web design have a few things in common. I love to fish for bass and everything in my tackle box gets used at least once during the summer months, except one item… the lead weights. They are generally used for sinking bait deep underwater where the fish will supposedly find it. I don’t find them very effective so I use floating lures instead. With these lures both the fish and I can easily see what is going on. Then I can adjustment my fishing strategy if I see ‘the big one’ showing any interest. With the lead weights I could be unknowingly trying to catch a log.

Websites often have lead weights attached to them. Even before you cast your website into cyberspace you may have unknowingly attached some to your design. I’ll explore three of the most common weights which sink websites and how to remove them. Once removed, your website will float above your competitor’s and entice more people to explore what you are offering.

Pointless Graphics

Graphics are like lures in your website tackle box. When used correctly, they attract attention to your product or service by enticing your target market with a clear and tangible benefit. The term ‘website graphic’ refers to the collective use of photos, colour, animation, shapes, words, and art. If not used in proper combination they can detract from your message and sink your website.

Even with good graphics if they have too many points of interest can confuse your visitor. Since the actual hook on the lure is the tangible benefit, graphics should enhance a clear message and not crowd it out. Take a look at www.sleepcountry.ca which is a very successful mattress retailer. Their promise to sell you ‘a good nights sleep’ is the hook, although what they really sell are mattresses. All the graphics you see on their website support this one message. When I visited their website while writing this article, I did not even see a photo of a mattress on their home page but I did see sleeping people. Their graphics are floating their message and not sinking it. It should also tell you something when the word ‘sleep’ is found twelve times on their home page and the word ‘mattress’ only once. Their message is clearly on top.

Stale, Out-Of-Date, Or Missing Content

Now that you have lured your target market into reading your message, it is time to set the hook. One thing I have learned about fishing is that setting the hook involves a quick firm snap which puts a lot of stress on the line. Once the hook is set I have to keep the fish near the surface of the water and out of the weeds. By keeping the line tight he can not easily spit the hook out or dive to the bottom and get tangled in the weeds.

Your content is the fishing line that keeps your visitors on the surface and moving towards you. The surest way to entangle a great website design is with stale, out-of-date, or missing content. Visitors may be hooked by the benefit they see but if your content does not strongly support your message under the stress of their analysis, they will leave.

To help ensure a successful catch I have to replace my fishing line each season due to age and use. Content is no different and must be changed and maintained often to keep pace with changes in your organization, your target market, or what you offer. As long as your content is relevant and accurate you can depend on it to do its job.

Factors that keep your content up-to-date, interesting, and relevant include:

• New graphics, media presentations, and interactive tools
• Fresh testimonials, ideas, and improvements in quality or value
• New uses for your product or service
• Regulatory, tax or policy changes
• Updated features
• New markets, clients, staff or promotions
• Seasonal changes
• National or international issues

As your organization grows and changes your website must be revised to reflect these changes. Ignoring this point will only hurt your chances of successfully landing interest in your product or service. I have heard people reject a vendor because the warranty information on the website was not what the sales rep told them. Keep content current and you will instill confidence.

Confusing Interactive Tools

Before every fishing trip I check my fishing pole for problems. If anything is broken or missing I fix it to increase my chances of successfully landing a fish. Something as simple as a loose nut can cause my reel to fall off the rod and sink to the bottom of the lake. If everything is working properly, I can easily guide a hooked fish to the boat and into my hand.

If graphics are the lure and content is the line then interactive tools are the fishing pole. If you discover that visitors are having trouble finding information on your website or they don’t know how to properly use a feature, then you can not guide them towards the decision you are hoping for.

Interactive tools include email, hyperlinks, forms, downloadable files, blogs, bulletin boards, memberships, search options, and menu navigation. Navigation is given little attention, likely due to the time involved in planning and testing. Keep in mind, however, that if your visitor can not find what they are looking for in three clicks or less, they will loose patience and likely leave. Some organizations make the mistake of using their internal org chart to lay out content on their website. This is a quick way to sink it because few visitors will understand the reasoning for your departmental divisions. You have to lay out content according to your visitor’s needs and expectations. Period.

I suggest to clients we gather all of the content they want to put on their website and condense it into short descriptions. Sort these written descriptions on a large table into similar categories. Then combine the categories into groups which will form the navigation menu of your website. Take for instance the following items:

1. a location map
2. contact form
3. address and phone number
4. company history
5. staff directory
6. mission statement

The first three items could be combined into one page labeled ‘Contact Us’. The last three items could have their own separate pages under a category called ‘Company Information’. You could then combine ‘Contact Us’ and ‘Company Information’ under one main heading called ‘About Us’.

The Big Fish That Didn’t Get Away