Increase your web site ROI

The following article has been written by James Saunders, Managing Director of Site-Report.com.

How often have your visitors contacted you regarding a problem they have encountered whilst using your web site? Very few or none are the most likely responses to that particular question. Does that mean that your web site is error-free and completely usable? Most probably not.

The simple truth is that if a visitor to your web site encounters a problem, they simply won't have the time to tell you about it or the inclination to do so. Instead, they'll head off to the next web site in the search engine listing and hope that they get a little further in their journey. In the meantime, your web site credibility has been dented and your competitors have benefited.

In a recent survey of our site-reporters, 78% stated that if they encountered a problem with a web site that they visited, they'd not bother to report it.

There are a number of reasons why your visitors may not provide you with feedback if they encounter a problem. The most common being that they felt that there was simply little point in highlighting the problem as someone was bound to know about it.

A majority of our survey respondents suggested that the means of communicating such problems was not clear. Many web sites offer contact details for pre- or post-sales and technical assistance on the product range but no clear mechanism to provide feedback on the usability of the web site itself.

Of the few visitors that had provided feedback, only a small percentage had ever received thanks for their assistance. This simple courtesy could mean that the visitor may well return as a paying customer when the problem is resolved. Providing this personal level of thanks also proves that you care about your visitors and realise their worth to your business.

Ensuring that your web site is error-free and usable should be two of your highest priorities. It must be remembered that dealing with just the minority of visitors that report problems will still cost money in terms of the support infrastructure required and the time involved. By providing the answers to common questions as part of the web site, you will reduce unnecessary support and keep your visitors happy.

One of the most important aspects of any ecommerce web site's usability is the shopping cart and checkout. A number of our clients report a healthy number of visitors, but few that commit a purchase. Through analysing the server logs of those web sites, it was established that there was a issue with the workflow involved with the shopping cart and checkout. For further information regarding the usability of shopping carts, please read our article on shopping carts.