“Visitor content flow” might sound like a technical term, but it really isn’t. For those of us in the web design business, it’s just a way of thinking about how someone who arrives on your site might move from one page or idea to the next.
This ties into usability, and is something that influences you (both as a business owner or marketer and someone who uses the internet) on a daily basis. You might not think about it in terms of content flow, but you’ve undoubtedly noticed that some websites are well-organized and easy to navigate while others are jumbled and frustrating.
Generating the perfect visitor content flow starts with effective website planning, something we’ll tackle in a future post. For today, let’s look at key points around the topic and how you can use them to plan your perfect website and layout…
Visitors Don’t Always Arrive or Behave as You Would Expect Them to
In theory, someone who arrives at your website should show up on the homepage, click on the link that gives them the product, service, or information they’re looking for, and then decide to do something (like make a purchase).
In reality, search engines, links, and blog posts will often leave visitors in areas that are only somewhat related to the actual question or challenge that’s on their mind. And, they’ll frequently click back and forth between different pages in a seemingly-random pattern to find the right resources.
It’s Imperative That Any Visitor to Your Website Find What They’re Looking for
As you already know, people don’t actually click through websites randomly; instead, they get frustrated looking for a certain piece of information that isn’t readily-available on the menu bar.
That’s why internal links, search bars, and other usability tools are so important. You only get a few seconds before someone becomes so frustrated with your website that they leave. When that happens, you’ve lost a potential sale (and maybe even a long-term customer) because your content flow didn’t work.
Many Websites Have Unintentional Dead Ends
Compounding this problem is the fact that a lot of websites have what are essentially dead ends. These can be broken links, missing pages, or resources that should be in place but simply aren’t.
The more of these you have hanging around your website, the harder it is for visitors to find what they want and do business with you. This is essentially the opposite of good content flow.
To Check Visitor Content Flow, You Need to Watch Your Web Analytics
There are two ways to ensure you aren’t suffering from these kinds of problems, and losing sales as a result. The first is to plan your site carefully and anticipate the kinds of questions and answers your customers will have.
The second is to audit your website, paying particular attention to your web analytics. You want to know where visitors are arriving on your pages, which resources or destinations they’re looking to most often, and at what point they are deciding to leave. When you have those data points in place, you can start closing up dead ends and optimizing your content flow to keep buyers engaged.
Is Your Website Easy for Visitors to Use?
It used to be that having a website that looked great was enough. Now, though, your closest competitors are only a click away, and there are hundreds of them. With that in mind, you can’t afford to have a website poor visitor content flow – it’s just too easy for customers to take their time, attention, and money elsewhere.
If you aren’t sure your website is structured as well as it could be, why not work with an expert team to find out? Contact the experienced creative minds at Weblinx at 630-551-0334 x1 today so we can evaluate your current website and offer you some insights.