The first thing to remember is that your site must load up quickly. The quicker the better. Most people will not wait longer than 10 seconds for a website to load up before jumping back to the search results and trying another site. So you could have the best most engaging home page in the world but if no one actually gets to see it then you have wasted your time.



The loading time is just the beginning of the issue and below is a list of things you should think about when designing your site:

Is the look and feel professional? - This seems like an obvious thing to say, but is forgotten by many. We've all see those sites that have clearly been created by a friend or relative, and can't you just tell. The first thing that goes through any customer's mind is can I trust this company? Think about what their answer might be, would you trust a company that looked like it could not afford a professional website? Do you think you would get what you want from them? When you consider this you realise it is vital to have a professional website.

Is the navigation obvious and simple? (And is it consistent throughout your site?) - Again this seems obvious, but we have seen so many people get it wrong. The biggest mistake made by a large number of website creators is to not have a home button. The reason for this is not clear, but it is probably because the designer thinks it will look better without it. So you have to click on the logo to go home. This is not only confusing but also annoying and will get people leaving your site in their droves. Think about yourself, can you easily find your way around your site. If the answer is no then you've got some work to do.

Have you used you Title Tag correctly? Does it allow your visitors to know what your site is about? - Giving your home page a compelling title will keep your visitors and the search engines informed about you and what you do.

Have you used an eye catching title that will get people to read on? - Try to make the first line or 2 of your text a strap line that will get people reading. Put this in bold to draw people's attention to it. Remember that if people are not hooked in the first 10 seconds they will go elsewhere.

Have you used sufficient graphics to grab the user's attention? - If your site is completely text based then it can look boring and unappealing. Using images and small Flash animations to liven up a page can not only help with the professionalism of your site but also in keeping people there.

Does the page include a Call to Action to encourage the sale? - If there something that gets people to buy, it can be phrases like "Buy Now", "Sign Up Today" or even phrases like "Purchase Today to receive your free product". These seem excessive and unnecessary but in our experience you need to make everything as simple as possible. After all the first rule of sales is to ask for it.

Is contact information easy to find? - If someone wants to contact you to ask a questions is it easy for them to figure out how. We would recommend ensuring you have a Contact Us button on every page. You may also want to consider having your telephone number appearing on every page where people can see it.

Have you thought about the colours you have used and the image they give your company? - In one of my previous articles I wrote about the use of colour and the feelings people get from different colours. Think about this when selecting your colours, if you use the wrong colours people may lose trust in you immediately, before knowing anything about you.

Above is not an exhaustive list of how to keep people on your site, but consider the above elements and you will be a long way towards an extremely successful website.