Take advantage of the traffic you have . . .

The following question was posted on Manta community (you can find me there answering questions if you're too shy to ask them here) and I thought it might be helpful to post the answer here as well:

How can I get more people to notice my website?

I've put samples of my products on websites like slideshare and docstoc to try to bring traffic to my website, but it's not working.

This is the website as it appears currently:

My background is in Human Factors psychology so I look at things from the stand point of how people would interact with your website - taking advantage of the traffic you do have will be more cost effective and help with search rankings. I also used to have a child care about 25 years ago so I am familiar with NAEYC and your subject matter. Taking things from a "so what?" point of view here are my recommendations.

• The layout is a bit confusing, it's hard to tell where you want me, as a novice visitor to your website, to look. We've all been trained to read left to right, top to bottom and we look at websites in a type of "F" pattern. If you reorganize to fit this pattern and eliminate the confusion you'll get a better flow through.
• The call to action conversion (free give away) is lost in the mix. It needs to be more clear what I am getting and why it's important.
• Curriculum is an important part of quality child care but what sets your company apart from others? You need a unique value proposition and clear benefits. Changing the focus from the company to the visitor will have a positive impact on your bottom line.
• Why is your contact information hidden below the fold? Make it super easy for people to contact you by putting your phone number in the 'golden triangle.

These are just a few of my immediate thoughts.

I've taken the liberty of "reworking" your front page - feel free to use the changes to your advantage if you feel they are appropriate.

Remember, it's easier to double your conversions than to double your web traffic. Hope this helps!

Here's a question . . .

Can anyone tell me why automotive websites have photos of the mechanics all over the place but no one shows a photo of the happy repair customer getting their keys back?

You might wonder where this came from but today I am working on a website for one of my original customers from back in 2004 - they are having their 2 websites redesigned and they are in the auto/truck repair business. Like many web designers, I often 'surf the net' looking for ideas and inspiration. Today I noticed how many auto websites are 1) poorly designed overall and 2) don't have any satisfied customer photos or comments.

There are several immutable truths when it comes to convincing visitors to do business with you and one of them is the trust that is instilled when you see the smiling face of the happy customer and read the comments. It's great that there are happy, smiling, clean mechanics (who never really look just that way) but what instills more confidence? The happy customer or the happy mechanic?

Of course just writing this blog raises the bar on what I will have to deliver for my clients - because at this point if I don't do better than what I've seen, I'm no better than the rest. So the gauntlet has been thrown & the challenge is on!

Would be interested to read your opinions - feel free to leave your comments :)

PS. this is day 5 of my 365 days of blogging . . . still going strong and haven't missed a day - yet!