Warmest Greetings,

User Friendly Error and Feedback Pages  

:: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 ::

Here's a conversion issue not often given the attention it should.

If someone lands on a page somewhere on your web site, only to get an Error 404 message, (Page can't be found. You're plumb outta luck.), they'll most likely leave and forget your site ever existed.

In Custom 404 Error Pages, Michael (aka "projectphp") calls up the discussion with the problem, and offers possible solutions by customizing the error messages.

This can be a clever, productive way to bring people back into your web site.

Completed tasks are another place for losing visitors. Say, for example, a new visitor finds your web site, scans it, notes the box to sign up for your newsletter and decides, "Hum, this may be worth signing up for." So they subscribe and they're gone.

Have they even seen all the nifty things on your site? Could you have interested them in something else?

This is when those thank you and confirmation pages come in handy. In addition to saying "Thank you", you can also direct them back to points of interest inside the web site.

For ecommerce, this might be specials and sales, or if following up on a sale, directing them to your specials notifications, newsletter, or coupons for future purchases. For information sites, it might be articles or selected articles that you know were popular.

The "Attract their interest. Guide them back inside" school of thought can be applied to form returns, shopping cart confirmations, email to a friend thank you's, newsletter subscription sign ups, etc.

You know your visitors and customers the best. One of your goals is to make them feel welcome and wanted from the moment they land on your web site. If they happened to end up in the dog house by accident, you still have the perfect opportuntiy to guide them back the main house.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 11/09/2004 10:02:53 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Feed Bin

Learn how to make RSS Feed Buttons

Highly Recommended!
(Read review)
Search Engine Marketing Kit, by Dan Thies

• User Centered Design
• Usability Industry Research
• Increase Website Conversions
• Starter Ecommerce Checklist

• Web Design & The Usability Effect
• Usability and SEO Humor

Crooked sunglasses

My artistic friends love this picture.

• About Kim Krause Berg
• My Articles
• Me Again (My Fave Blog Posts)
• August 2005 : Expanding on Usability - An Interview with Kim Krause Berg
• Kim's Wish List

Recent Posts

Search Engine Optimization, Usability, Blogs and Small Business Bag of Goodies

Now that Mr. Bush Won, Now What?

Four More Years of Living on the Other Side of A Country

What is Usability?

Serenity, Maybe Even Therapy, For Web Designers

Is The Internet Experiencing A Mid-Life Crisis?

How to Quench Your Web Site Visitors' Thirst

Search Engine Optimization/Marketing Industry Launches New UK Organization

Discoveries in User Centered Design and Small Business Support

Search Engines No Longer Represent All Web Sites

Monthly Archives

It's That Book Again

Conversions Topic is New York Times Best Seller (Seriously)

Kim is a Member of the Usability Professionals Association

"This report exceeded my expectations. After reading it a few times, I went through and highlighted those parts of your actionable advice that I want to implement right away... I ended up highlighting most of the report. Stellar job. I won't hesitate to recommend you to one of my own clients." -- Andy Hagans of AndyHagans.com

"I have implemented the most obvious changes and I suppose the fact that we've seen an immediate increase in sales/conversions is no coincidence. I'd highly recommend your service to anyone running a serious web based business." -- Steve Clay, Plumeriabay.com

"As soon as we get our hands on one of her usability studies, my clients and I have a better understanding of what needs to be done with their sites to make them the best they can be from their site visitors' perspective."
-- Jill Whalen, HighRankings.com

"This is an exemplary piece of work." -- Rand Fishkin, SEOMoz.org

View more Testimonials | Clients
Learn about Website improvement services.