Here for What?

When someone visits your site, what are they there for? Are they on a quest for knowledge, entertainment, or curiosity? There are countless reasons someone could be visiting your site, but if it’s not clear, they are gone. Every page on your site should clearly convey it’s primary purpose. Avoid clutter, like countless ads, and keep the primary in the most obvious position on your site.

Using this Free Directory site as an example, it’s obvious what a visitor is geared to do. Search for keywords. The search form is front and centered, has a giant magnify glass icon to attract visitors attention, and is in a well defined space that is clear of distractions. Even if you didn’t know that the site was a directory you might fill out the form. It’s that in your face.

Search engines, and directories have pretty much got this down. Almost all of them use this technique because it is what people want. Cater to your visitors needs, and make what they are looking for as easy to find as possible. If you have what they want, your site will be a winner.