Consider these facts:

1. 50% of all online sales are lost due to poor navigation
2. Each time you make your users click to perform an action, you lose 30-60% of your traffic.

To put that second fact into perspective for you, here’s what happens in the best case scenario of losing 30% at each click:

Say 1,000 people show up on your homepage, looking to buy your product. First, they have to get to the Product Page.

Click.

700 people make it to the product page. To order something from the product page, they must first read your Shipping Policy.

Click.

490 people have hung on long enough to read your shipping policy. You have now already lost over half of your traffic. The next step is for the customer to fill out the Order Page.

Click.

343 people fill in the order form. The last step is for them to confirm their order. This is the only click standing between your customer’s money and your bank account. One click left to confirm…

Click.

240 people actually buy something from you.

Now, if you were paying for those initial 1000 people — say, if you were using PPC ads at 25 cents per click — your bad navigation just wasted $190 of your $250 budget.

So there’s a very, very good reason to design smart navigation: It directly affects your bottom line.

Good navigation = money in your pocket. Bad navigation = money out of your pocket.

The key to smart navigation design is to remember that the #1 most-important goal of navigation is clarity. Your users should be able to answer these four questions within 10 seconds of landing on ANY PAGE of your website:

1. Where am I?
2. Where have I already been?
3. Where do I go next?
4. How do I get back to the homepage?

If any of these questions is unanswerable, chances are very good that you won’t be able to hang onto that user long enough to convert them into a paying customer. So take a look at your navigation to make sure you’re not requiring customers who want to buy something to hunt around to find the order form.

It’s not easy to see your site from your customers’ perspective. You’re so familiar with your business, your keywords, and your market, and you care an awful lot about it, so you might be making some assumptions about your navigation that will trip you up later. Here’s an example:

Say you have a digital photography site. You review and sell photography equipment (like tripods and lenses), feature tips for photographers, and offer a gallery of user-submitted photos. To give your site a little personality, you adopt some industry slang for your navigation labels. Tripod reviews become “see our sticks,” and lens reviews “check our glass.” For your gallery you use a clickable image of a photo in a frame instead of text. Fun and cute, right?

Wrong.

It’s time for cold hard reality: People aren’t coming to your website to play games; they are looking for a solution to a problem. Hiding the solution is not going to make them stick around longer to find it — it will make them think you don’t have a solution.

Usability studies reveal that when people search the Web for a solution to a problem, they are totally ruthless. They don’t care that your site is beautiful, they don’t care that it’s clever. All they care about is whether or not you have the information they’re looking for.

If they don’t see that they’re on the right track immediately, they’re not going to stick around to make sure they haven’t missed anything — “oh wait, that’s a picture of a picture, that must be the gallery link…” — they’ll just hit the back button and pick the next business in the search results.

In that user’s experience, you just wasted their time — so chances are they’ll never be back, even if your site shows up in all their searches for photography equipment. (Told you the reality was cold and hard.)

Setting aside the experience of your human visitors, navigation is great for attracting the search engine spiders too. It’s a really great place to use your keywords: It’s on every page of your site, usually in a very prominent place, and usually near the top.

So what happens if you stuff your navigation with irrelevant words? No one can find you! Not only are you losing prime placement for your real keywords, you’re giving prime placement to irrelevant ones.

If that weren’t bad enough, these irrelevant keywords mean you’ll continue to show up in searches for “sticks” and “glass”, and you won’t show up at all in relevant searches for “tripods” and “lenses.”

Think it’s a challenge to sell a camera lens to someone who is looking to buy one? Try selling one to someone who is looking for wine glasses!

To get a good understanding of navigation, you can’t beat the education you get from laughing at really, really BAD navigation. We strongly recommend you check out www.webpagesthatsuck.com for some fantastic anti-inspiration!

Now You Can Achieve Perfect Navigation EVERY Time!

We designed BeBiz to automate the entire Internet business success methodology we teach in our top-selling Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Online home-study system, in our one-on-one mentoring program, and through our 5-Day Fast Track Success clinics.

Developed over 12 years of constant research and testing, our step-by-step methodology has helped 1,000s of people start earning significant incomes online.

BeBiz makes our methodology “point-and-click easy,” and eliminates any risk of going off in the wrong direction, so you can start earning an income on the Internet faster than you thought possible.

When you use BeBiz to start your Internet business, you can:

• Avoid the costly and time-consuming mistakes that most beginners make getting started
• Start earning money almost immediately, then build on your early success to generate a secure, independent income
• Use the skills and knowledge you acquire building your first business to create multiple profitable websites
• Enjoy success online, even if you have no technical abilities or previous business experience
• Start building your business TODAY, even if you have no idea what to sell, or any ideas for a market or business

Click HERE to watch an informative video of how
BeBiz can help you with YOUR business ….

Well, if you’re short on time and long on money, then you might find it more efficient to outsource the job to a web designer. If you choose this option, make sure the designer has a strong grasp of Internet marketing principles.

There are so many designers out there who know how to build a pretty website — but don’t have the first clue how to create a site that actually SELLS.

As you go through your list of prospective designers, ask each one to supply you with a list of web addresses of other business websites they have designed. Then check those websites out for yourself.  Do they conform to the basic web design principles we describe in our lay out in our best-selling online marketing course?

If the answer is yes, chances are the designer knows what he or she is talking about. But if the answer is no, you might want to keep looking for a designer.

Where to find a good web designer

Doing a search in Google like, “web designers – YOUR CITY NAME” can yield good results. Pay special attention to the sponsored listings above and to the right of the regular listings. If the designer is web-savvy enough to have created their own locally targeted AdWords campaign then chances are they know something about Internet marketing.

If you know some businesses in your area who have great websites, you could always contact the owners and ask them if they wouldn’t mind sharing their designer’s contact info. (Assuming they hired a contractor and don’t have their own designer in house.)

Don’t feel you have to be limited to your local area, either. If you find a designer whose work you love who lives far away, you can still hire them to build your site. It’s easy to communicate via phone and email and share files online.

Who do we recommend?

The few companies we deal with are the best in the business; they know how to build websites that generate sales, and they are customer-service oriented. Plus, they are efficient, creative, and reasonably priced. They can design everything you need from scratch, including graphics and logos — or they can just build it from what you have already.

Check out www.marketingtips.com/webdesign.php for more information.

We’ve set up a special form at the site above that you can fill out with your needs. We will forward your request on to the company that is best suited to your purposes and they will contact you to chat about your needs and provide more information.

What you can reasonably expect to pay

With designers ranging from talented “dabblers” to high-end professionals, the price you may be quoted by a designer can vary greatly. Costs can range anywhere from $20 an hour to $100 an hour. For most work, expect to pay a mid-range price to ensure quality.

Did you hire a web designer to build YOUR website? If so, tell us about your experience in the comments!

If you want to make your website “sticky” — in other words, a site people want to return to again and again — your  focus should be on providing valuable content that your visitors simply can’t find anywhere else.

Visitors might not make a purchase the first time they stop by, or even a few visits down the line, but when they’re ready to spend money on a solution to their problem — or on pretty much anything that interests them — you’ll have positioned yourself as someone they can trust to buy from.

After all, you clearly know your stuff… AND you share what you know!

Many online business websites focus primarily on urging their visitors to make a purchase, without establishing their credibility in any way, or giving customers something to come back and check out once a purchase has been made. And that means that they’re missing out on a BIG opportunity.

By providing valuable, credible information at your site, you’ll…

• Give people something to come back and check out again and again
• Encourage people to link back to your website from their sites and social networks, increasing your traffic
• Give the search engines more keyword-rich content to “spider” — doing wonders for your ranking!
• Establish yourself as a trusted expert in your industry

When you provide great content, you’ll soon see a boost in traffic… AND your conversion rates. If there’s one thing the search engines will ALWAYS like, it’s relevant, original content.

There are tons of ways to add content to your website. Here are just a few of the possibilities…

• Create an “articles” directory or page on your site where you post short articles about your industry
• Start a blog with a simple WordPress or Blogger plugin
• Set up an archive of the email newsletters you send out to your subscriber list
• Post an RSS feed of industry news
• Post case studies/stories from satisfied customers
• Invite your visitors to answer questions/polls/surveys

If you’re wondering what you could possibly write about your industry or your product that your visitors would find interesting, see if the following options give you some ideas:

• A “Frequently Asked Questions” directory to answer the queries you get most often
• Detailed “How to” guides
• Advanced techniques for using your product
• Information about unexpected uses for a product like yours
• Case studies from users of your product
• Articles that directly answer the questions that led people to your site (check your website logs to check out search terms that pop up repeatedly)
• Your unique perspective on, and experiences in your industry
• Big news happening in your industry, or industry trends

The possibilities really are endless… and so is the value to your website. And what better time to get started than when you’re taking a close look at your business in preparation for a successful year?

One more thing: don’t forget to use your keywords throughout your content, especially in your titles.

Speaking of keywords, tomorrow we’re going to give you some tips on effective SEO for 2010.

Now that we’ve finished up with the 2009 holiday season — an incredibly busy time for many online businesses — it’s time to make sure your website is ready to serve your visitors and customers effectively in 2010!

We’ve noticed over the years that many e-commerce pros tend to neglect their sites  in favour of product development or new internet marketing strategies… without realizing that they’re putting all that effort to waste if they’re not providing their visitors and customers with a great experience!

Give your website our 5-step website checkup to make sure you’re in top shape for the year ahead:

1.  Does the look of your site reflect your products and appeal to your market? From your header to your footer (and everything else in between!), every element of your site  — your colors, graphics and images –  should be specifically chosen to highlight your products, and to engage your target market.

If someone can’t figure out what you’re selling within seconds of arriving at your site — and if they don’t feel like you’re speaking to them as your ideal customer — you’re putting an automatic dent in your conversion rates.

Your goal should be to get rid of anything that doesn’t fit, and tweak what you’ve got to be as true to your products and your audience as possible.

2. Does your site copy get your message across? Everything from the title in your website header, to your headlines, to your salescopy, to your navigation should be directly related to what you sell, easy to understand (even if your visitor doesn’t know much about your product), and rich with relevant keywords for the search engines to spot.

In addition, you’ll want to make sure your copy (short or long) is easy to read and scan. Short sentences, short paragraphs and bullet points make it easy for even short-term site visitors to grasp your marketing message. And don’t forget your call to action — encourage them to buy!

3. Does  your site function properly? Your navigation buttons should be clearly labeled with terms your visitors can understand, they should be grouped in a logical way (information with information, products with products, etc.), they should be placed on every page of your site, and they should be kept to a bare minimum — but don’t forget essentials like your “About” and your “Contact” pages.

In addition, take an hour or two to do a full link check on every page of your website. Any link your visitors can click on should take them exactly where it says it will. If you find broken links, dead links or duplicate links, clean them up (or delete them) right away!

4. Does your site take payments effectively? If your buyers have to click through more than three screens to make a purchase, you’ll end up losing about 25% of them with every additional click they have to make to purchase your product.

Make sure your shopping cart instructions are crystal clear,  that you offer a message about the security and privacy of their checkout process to put buyers at ease, that you have contact information posted in each step in case they need your help to finish the process, and that you send them an automated email with all the details of their purchase for reference and follow-up as soon as their purchase is completed.

5. Does your site keep people coming back for more? “Stickiness” is a word we use to refer to how much your site makes visitors want to return to it again and again. They might come back to buy more products they love, to take advantage of great deals,  to check out valuable  information you provide, or to interact with your other visitors and customers — but your goal is to make sure there’s something to keep them coming back for more.

One of the most powerful ways to make your site one that people want to bookmark is to continue to connect with visitors after they leave your site. We recommend that EVERY business website includes a compelling opt-in offer to collect visitor information so you can contact them again via email marketing, even if they don’t make a purchase.  Then you can stay in touch… and keep your online business on their radar.

If you can answer all these questions with a “Yes!”, then you’re clearly ready to sell in 2010!

Tomorrow, we’re going to talk more about the power of great content to make your site sticky.

Be sure to stop by!

We’ll review these three websites and recommend improvements that will increase their  traffic and bring better conversions. Look for those site reviews in upcoming issues of our Marketing Tips Report newsletter. It’s free and you can sign up for it in the blue box to the right of this post.

The lucky winners are:

Derek Seabrooke of www.electricgenesis.com

Susan Mitchell of www.tinyterriers.com

Bob Hamrin of www.greatdads.org

Congratulations to you all! And, again, thanks to everyone who entered. Watch for more site review contests in the future.

… But where can you go to find good images that you won’t have to pay an arm and a leg for?

Well, if you’ve wasted hours checking out all the “free stock photos” sites on the Web — which never seem to have the image you’re looking for — or you’ve explored Flickr for non-rights-reserved images until your eyes are crossing, here’s some great news:

Google and Yahoo have both introduced features that make it easier for you to find images that have been specifically labeled for commercial reuse. (Read this post to learn about rules for using photos.)

Google hasn’t yet included the search option in its regular interface but you can try it out by clicking here.

If you want to do the same kind of search on Yahoo, click on the “Advanced Search” options and then click on “Creator Allows Reuse” box in the new “Creative Common License” option. Right now, only Flickr images are supported with this filter in Yahoo, so let’s hope they will expand their offerings in time.

It’s definitely worth your while to try out both search engines and see which delivers the best image results. Then come back here and tell us what you’ve found!

Your site’s layout, web copy, and navigation structure has a much bigger impact on your sales. And in the early days of running your online business, you’ll want to retain full control over these elements so you can find the best combination.

So save yourself some time and money, and use one of these three ways to build your own highly profitable business website:

1. Learn HTML using free resource sites like Davesite.com. HTML is actually very straightforward and there are some great tutorials that can help you break it down. Many sites even offer free sample pages or templates you can add your own design elements to. 
2. Use programs that do the coding for you. Software programs such as Dreamweaver or KompoZer let you design a site in a word-processing type interface, and automatically change it into HTML speak. 
3. Use an “all-in-one” business builder. If you’d rather eat slugs than try your hand at anything technical, you may want to consider using a complete web-building package like BeBiz. These programs allow you to create your own design using point-and-click wizards and templates — with no need to know HTML at all. This is probably the fastest way to build a business website that’s professional and functional.

These are all great ways to build a website yourself. The option that’s best for you depends on how much time and energy you’re able to put into it, as well as the complexity of the site you need.

Being able to control the design and sales elements of your business site is well worth any extra effort… so you always have full control over your conversions and profits.