5 Navigation Keys to Get Visitors to Take Action

04/28/2008
by Kenn Schroder

Ever wonder why Google is the preferred search tool on the Web?
Could it be because Google is simple? One search box; one search
button... just type in a keyword or two, and go.

Many coaching websites, particularly those with more than 20 pages,
are difficult to use and poorly organized. They lose visitors
simply because they are hard to navigate.

And it's a shame if people leave your website without taking
action. Your prospect list won't grow as fast, and you'll miss out
on sales and client- acquisition opportunities.

The ideal navigation makes it easy and fast for prospective clients
to hop around your website and perform tasks. And when it's easy,
people do things - like buy products, sign up for teleclasses, and
call you to explore working with you. The bottom line? Your
business grows.

To smooth out your navigation and help visitors get the information
they want, purchase your products and services and grow and
succeed, here are 5 navigational pointers to get you started:
 
1. Organize your site from your visitor's perspective.

Your visitors - or, with hope, prospective clients - see your
business from a different perspective than you do. They aren't
looking to learn about coaching techniques, assessments or models.
Instead, they're looking for answers to questions that pertain to
their specific situation - such as, "Why should I be here?"; "How
can you help me?"; and "What should I do next?"

Thus, you need to organize your content, pages and links in a way
that answers these questions and satisfies the unique requirements
of your visitor. As a result, your website becomes intuitive and
easy to use.

2. Have a consistent primary navigation.

Just as a book has a table of contents, every website should have
"primary navigation" - the central, most obvious set of links that
governs the website. This is usually found across the top or down
the left of the page.

To ensure your primary navigation is consistent, keep it in the
same location on each page, and be sure to use the same labels.

Consistency gives prospects the confidence to click around your
website, knowing that if they get lost they can quickly and easily
reorient themselves.

3. Minimize the number of links (effort) to find things.

It may sound obvious, but the faster and easier it is to find
content and links on your website, the much, much, much better it
is for you.
 
This doesn't mean you should link your home page to every single
page. That would make the home page hard to look at. Instead, you
should find out the top things that most of your visitors are
looking for and make finding those things very easy.

For example, let's say you are a new coach and you do most of your
promotion by networking. And, as part of your client-securing
strategies, you recommend articles to prospects and invite them to
download them from your website. Then, when it comes to linking,
you should put "Articles" in your primary navigation (mentioned
above) and put links to the top one or two recommended articles -
right on the home page.

It's also vital to avoid over-organizing your content. For
instance, if you've written 8 articles, you don't need three
different categories in which to organize them. Simply create one
page titled "Articles" and list them there.
 
Furthermore, keep in mind that as the number of clicks to find
things on your website increases, the more time it takes for pages
to load -- and the more chances there are for errors to occur. And
the more errors that occur, the more chances there are for people
to get stuck. That's NOT what you want; not by a long shot.

4. Keep visitors one step ahead.

Each page serves a purpose - whether it's to inform the visitor or
to have them fill out a form. When a visitor is thus finished with
each page, be sure to lead them on to the next logical one. Using
words like: "Your next step" and cues such as arrows are very
helpful.

For example, if a visitor has just finished signing up for your
newsletter, make sure to send them to a recent article. After they
read an article, invite them to check out your links page for other
helpful websites.

Your website is an informational tool, and its job is to provide
visitors with content and resources to help them.

5.Be mindful of your website - and business-related objectives.

Yes, it's crucial to organize your website from a visitor's
perspective and make it easy for them to navigate. But it's also
vital to ensure that the steps taken when using your site lead the
visitor toward your business objectives.

Some examples include:
> Getting a prospect on your email list
> Registering for a teleclass
> Filling out an assessment

Thus, be sure to keep your business objectives in mind as part of
the overall website organization. Help prospective clients get what
they want while getting what YOU want - a win/win.

Here's a tip that could be worth thousands of dollars - seriously.

To insure your website is smooth and easy to use, try this: Sit
down with a friend, ideally someone in your target audience, and
watch him or her use your website. If you find yourself having to
explain things, your website is probably not as easy to use as it
should be.

Over the course of a year, the value you get from watching one
person use your website can make a tremendous difference in your
email sign-up rates, initial sessions and product sales. That can
easily amount to thousands of dollars in business.

In other words, remember that on the Web, ease of use is vital when
it comes to websites.

As a coach trying to convince prospects that you can help them,
it's your duty to be a good leader. You want that message to shine
through on your website. Make it easy to use and action-oriented,
and you'll find yourself meeting - and even surpassing - your
expectations.

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