Why do people leave a website?

We fight hard to win a customer. Planning, analysis, design, execution...the whole nine yards. But still, the customer chooses to leave your page. Just like page visits have some solid reasons behind them, page exits too, have some underlying commonalities. We look at some of them in this article.

1. Bad navigation

This is the foremost among the reasons that cause user frustration. Complex or inconsistent navigation can cause users to feel confused, helpless, or worse, angry- something you do not want potential customers to be feeling.

The things to keep in mind are

• To not provide visual elements that are not clear in defining where the user is and what they’re supposed to do next

• Don’t scatter your main navigation links around your site. Your website navigation should be logical, intuitive and easy to understand. For this, you could try grouping navigation elements in a central area. For larger websites, you could add a sitemap.

• Finally, don’t make your link text hard to understand. “Other links” is generally not a good choice for link text.

2. Too many ads

Firstly, ensure that ads are not the first thing that a visitor sees. It is important that ads do not cover up the content that attracted the visitors in the first place. Managing space is very important as there are ads that take up more space than the website content.

3. Bad content structure

Bad content structure can destroy your conversion and retention rates. Here, it’s important not to complicate things by distributing content across multiple pages that could be easily communicated on one page. Outlining and grouping content so that users don’t have to fish around, bold headings, highlighting keywords- these are some of the things that go a long way in adding to the usability quotient of your website.

4. Obtrusive use of Audio and Video

Most people value their ability to choose what content to absorb. Having a video or audio that loads automatically can potentially drive visitors away. Which means it is important not to force users to view a particular content. Because sometimes, even a simple paragraph can convey the content of a video.

5. Poor legibility

Excessive typos, abrasive colours, bad typography choices- all of this make up a poor user experience. Do not use typefaces that are unnecessarily elaborated, pixelated or have poor contrast. Also, excessive use of bright, fluorescent colours can be distracting and abrasive.

If you could ensure this and some pun on the way, the user would be all yours.  

Top tips for web designers and developers

The first thing you should know as a budding internet professional is the difference between web design and web development. A web designer is a bit like the window dresser of a web site. As a web designer your job is to grab the attention of window shoppers, in other words, people surfing the net.

In contrast your job as a web developer is behind the scenes. You are at the helm for the smooth opening of the site on various browsers. The web developer makes sure that all the apportionment of the web site operate flawlessly in the minimum of time.

Of course the exemplary person for the assigned task is someone who has both the attributes of a web designer and a web developer. A lot of free software is available on the internet today. Many people have learned simple web designing and developing by using templates and image libraries. One cool tip for budding artists of the cyberspace is that you need a deeper knowledge of web design and web development software to become successful. It is necessary for you to get professional training.

In the role of a web designer you must strive to create a home page that holds the interest of your visitor. This can only be adventurous if your web development has been efficient. The images should download immediately and the content should be in easily readable fonts. Try to keep it simple.

Trial runs of your website are very necessary before you put it on the World Wide Web. There are many prominent websites which grant you to assay your site on their software which simulates the most popular browsers. This will grant you to make sure that your web pages open on all genus's of screens and on all the popular search engines. This is where your technical adroitness as a web developer will be tested most.

The constituents of the web site have to be written by a professional. You might be great at web design or web development but it is a specialist's job to write the text. Remember to place the text on a background which makes it easily readable.

In the antiquity a lot of technical knowledge was required to be successful in web design and web development. Modern software has made it easy for you to design and develop without having to know all the technical stuff. Still it is necessary that you learn the ropes of HTML and CSS coding as you progress along your chosen profession.