Website Dead Ends and How to Fix Them

Good website design is all about keeping end-users moving towards a pre-determined conversion goal, like depositing cash or providing contact information. But, all too often, affiliates create website dead ends that halt the conversion process in its tracks.
Avoiding website dead ends is all about keeping that end goal in mind and giving your readers a chance to give you what they want. In a recent posting on MarketingProfs.com titled, Seven Dead Ends on Your Website –and How to Fix Them, blogger Andy Crestodina tackled this issue and provided a few fixes, too.
Here are a few of Crestodina’s top website dead ends and how to avoid them.
Service Pages – About us, FAQ’s and other service pages sometimes grind progress to a screeching halt. Remedying this mistake is as simple as adding a serious call-to-action at the bottom of every page; no matter how mundane it seems.
Blog Posts – Great blog posts are never a standalone affair. They are, however, great opportunities for deep-linking to your older content. Never let a blog post stand on its without internal links and don’t be afraid to update older posts with newer links.
‘No Results’ on the Search Page – This is your opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade. Keeping visitors on your site, even when they’re not finding what they’re looking for, can be as simple as adding links to popular categories to the ‘no results’ page.
Follow Up After the Sale – Bagging a sale doesn’t have to be the end of the conversion process. Taking a simple step like asking the customer to set up an account after the sale can improve sales by a whopping 30% (and 40% of customers will actually do it).
Beef Up the ‘Thank You’ on Lead Generation Pages – One last question, “Would you like to follow us on Twitter or Facebook?” Asking a simple question like this after you’ve already harvested contact information can beef up your social presence in a major way.
This technique can be applied to just about any conversion outpost on your site, including newsletter sign-ups. While you definitely don’t want to push things too far, there’s no reason not to offer more contact opportunities to end-users who are already interested in your offerings.
Thinking Ahead
Crestodina’s advice for keeping your site design flowing smoothly is to ask yourself, “What would I like my visitors to do next?” while crafting each page. If you can keep visitors moving or converting on every page, you’ll increase your overall chances of success.