Why Do People Leave a Website – Part 2
The last post on this subject focused on the technicalities: load time, aesthetic, and ease of use. These are all fairly easily definable and fairly simple to implement. A clean, thought out design will address these issues. However, there are other factors which are more difficult to specify as to why people leave a website. These can be broken down into user interactivity and attempting to handle too many services in one instance.
User Interactivity
As the YouTube generation continues to become more and more of the Internet citizenship, an increasing amount of user interaction is expected with websites. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and personal blogs, anyone can create an item and immediately receive feedback, both positive and negative. With companies looking to expand their own website offerings, interest should be placed in allowing user interaction and creativity with the brand.
Websites that provide solely static content prove of little use to most users. Sites like Wikipedia and other reference sites need little updating to most of their offerings. However, for a website that is hoping to have customers loyalty and interaction, additional thought must be put in to ways in which a dialog can be ongoing between consumers and business.
One common pitfall that companies have is limiting their customers’ creative spirits by strictly cracking down on items which may infringe on intellectual property. Rather than trying to discern what uses are fair use and what are infringing, mutually constructive activities always garner more support and free publicity. Many musicians encourage listeners to remix their songs, which ultimately gains more exposure. While most businesses do not offer something as easily mutable as music, thought needs to be put into ways in which an ongoing, constructive dialog can be built between both parties.
Have a Purpose
As mentioned before, static websites are quickly being phased out with those augmented by web apps, social media interaction, and self-publication. The major pitfall with this approach is overuse of social media and a lack of clear purpose for visitors. As mentioned previously, a clearly defined goal should be set forth to the user: learn more information here, purchase here, contact us here. Long gone are the days of drop down menus with fifteen options apiece. Rather, a clearly defined set of user options should be presented with a singular purpose in mind. Models such as Google prove that doing one thing extremely well, augmented by their other offerings available to the more inquisitive user, translates into a reliable, trusted service which has excellent customer retention.
Conclusion
The web has transformed from a frontier where anyone with a webpage could make it big to a multi-trillion dollar arena. Each website is constantly vying for attention and the loyalty of their customers. However, far too many companies solely dictate to their customers what it is they should do, without offering them a chance to actively engage and become vested in the product and brand. One of the many ways companies do this is by trying to be everything to everyone. In this crowded marketplace, a clearly defined set of goals and services will prove to engrain customers to a company and keep extraneous overhead at a minimum.