Visit Your Website Like A Visitor Would

Back in 2002, Gooder Group published tips we received from users of Rainmaker Leads Online on how best use the service and drive more traffic to your website and collect valuable leads from every visit.  Here is one secret from seven years ago:

"Test your site. Find out how easy it is to move around. Is every link understandable? Include “back” buttons and test them to ensure you don’t get lost trying to return to your first page. “Return to Top” and “Back to Home Page” buttons on every page make organization clear and minimize frustration for visitors. (You’ll find Rainmaker Leads Online to be a useful prototype.)"

Although you probably check your site and your website designer has quality control for your site, you still will benefit from others’ views of it.  When you revise and update your site (or redesign it completely), share your web address with friends and family and ask for their opinion and comments.  Have them take a moment to go through your site, note any broken links, typos or other such problems.  (Perhaps you can offer an incentive to get these "visitors" to help you do a quality check on your site – a gift certificate for a movie theater/restaurant/store, etc.)

Remember some basic things that will help visitors on your site:

• Do you use any abbreviations, acronyms or teminology that need explanation?
• Is your site intuitive so visitors can find info quickly?
• Do all your links work?  And, are links labeled correctly?
• Is your contact info easy to find–and up to date?  (Did you include your Facebook page/info, Twitter account info or Skype info if you use these services?)
• Is the information you provide up to date?  (Be sure to especially check anything related to taxes, local/regional programs, links to outside vendors, events, etc.)
• Do you ask for visitors to leave their contact info easily so you can follow up?

You can never have enough proofreading/editing eyes on your website.  And, take comments and suggestion on your site to heart.  Your site should please you, but it should serve your clients best.

How do you ensure a flawless website?  Do you collect comments and suggestions from visitors to your site to improve its usability (and lead generation)?