I've been looking at the logs of a site Im working on.

It has a nice amount of unique visitors for it's area of interest,
but for some reason, there is a high percentage of visitors that are
leaving, after only looking at the index.

the ones that go further on into the content, find it useful and Im having
good results converting them in to buyers.

What do you people think?
what are the factors that makes your visitors get to the understanding
that this is a valuable site? What should you take into consideration?

I would love hearing what you guys have in mind.

Without seeing your site...

Here are some common causes for the visitor behavior in your post: (Not in any particular order of importance)

1. Site Category Structure (main navigation issue)
-Are top categories intuitive, easy to understand and follow?
-Is main navigation easy to find and use? (Usage part is more of technical issue..such as add-on dependent...which requires download, etc.)

2. Focal Point Layout
-What/which content of homepage is placed on...a). most prominent focal point and/or b). does the content next/after the content from b). follows/flows smoothly without breaking/interrupting focal point?
-Does the homepage conveys the nature of the content's nature efficiently? (this has a close relationship to if a visit was originated from a search engine with a specific search term...if a search term that delivered your content/homepage has little/no coalition to your content, high single homepage access becomes obvious)

3. Homepage content
Your homepage content might not be a). 'enough' and/or b). Perceived relevant. What you think is relevant is different from what visitors/prospects perceive to be relevant. Try to look at your content through the eyes of visitor/prospect (information/solution seeker), not from the information/solution provider. Perception of these parties on same content varies as intention and motivation for their actions are inherently different.

Tone of the content plays a role here as well...effective copy doesn't always have to be 'creative'...as an example

4. Basic design issue
- Is your site too 'busy'? in layouts, colors, graphic-to-text ratio, etc.?
- Alignment and scale of the page? Page alignment has a significant impact on the usability of the site, especially in relation to and/or in conjunction to 1. 2. and 3.

There are many more factors that might be in and/or not in place for your visitors' behavior.

Simply put...

I want (insert his/her desired action/information/etc.)
The more he/she has to ask to himself/herself while he/she is on your site...
Where is (insert his/her desired action/information/etc.)?
The harder it becomes for conversion.

Without seeing the site/page in question, it's a guessing game, but from my experience, perceived value difference between visitor/prospect and provider/seller often plays a part...more so than most providers/sellers are willing to and/or like to admit.

Thrive for customer-focused/user-centric mindset and most of your questions will answer themselves. Always keep in mind that your visitors/prospects are constantly asking...all the dreaded how/what/where/why/when questions about your products/services.

HTH


[ Message was edited by: visitor 11/22/2005 12:42 pm ]

Thanks. I appriciate the time you took to answer my question.
I will go over my site and try to see how to improve it.

I think the major things that needs improvment is the layout,
It loads fast, but it might look bad for a first time visitor.

its just not sending the image of quality the content is aiming for.

Also content, although the content is well made, and is easy
to find and navigate through the index, for the experienced
in that field, it might just not have enough to offer.

needless to say, we are always working on content.

Great post Visitor!

Assumption: You offer a competitively priced product or service.

Problem: Customers leave homepage quickly.

Usual Prblems are:
Content that's not compelling.
Content perceived irrelevant.
or--- and I've seen this to be the case often.....the traffic is of poor quality (not targeted).

Let us know how you make out.

Best Regards,
Keensurfer

I'd put together a test group of internet savvy and non-internet users and test your site on them. I've really been researching usability over the past couple of weeks and they really stress testing and retesting before implementing. One test, in particular, was the 5 second test; having the user view either the website or mockup for 5 seconds, then remove it from view. The user is then asked specific questions regarding the main purpose of the particular page or pages. I'd think that you could gain useful information about your page if this test was implemented.