Have you ever considered how your site visitors feel when they land on your homepage? Do they feel relaxed enough to cruise around, read your content and start the lead process—or does what they see make them immediately bounce?

Those first impressions have a lot to do with how long visitors stay on your site—and even more do do with conversion. According to Todd Follansbee, a user experience expert with Web Marketing Resources, anxiety is one of the biggest reasons visitors fail to convert.

You and I can relate to the truth in that, cant we? Lets face it, were all surrounded by phishing scams, identity theft and viruses these days, and all those things make us uneasy when it comes to interacting online. But if you work to reduce anxiety on your site, Follansbee says youll establish credibility and increase conversion considerably—putting money in your pocket in the process.

So what kinds of things make people nervous when they hit your site?

• Poor spelling, grammar and navigation. Being a copywriter, this is my personal pet peeve! Theres nothing less professional than misspelled words or poor use of punctuation.
• No “Contact Us” link on the homepage. Why should they trust you if they cant even ask a question?
• Omitted information needed for product selection. Why would they complete the process if they cant find what they need to know?
• Lengthy, complex forms asking for unnecessary information. Only require essential information—nothing more, nothing less!
• Lack of a secure transaction server. They need reassurance that their personal information wont be floating around out in cyberspace somewhere.
• Terms and conditions that seem unethical or deceptive. If you claim it, follow through on it!
• Unexpected redirects outside your domain. This causes uncertainty about who theyre really dealing with.

To reduce anxiety and make visitors feel more at home, thus aiding in conversion, Follansbee recommends:

• A professional-looking, clean site with clear messages and easy navigation. These contribute to positive user experience.
• A clear privacy policy statement that outlines how personal information will be used.
• Logos and links that lend credence and credibility to your site.
• Timely and relevant testimonials. This is one of the best ways to calm consumer fears.
• Claims that can be substantiated on your site—not empty promises.
• Full information disclosure. This can be accomplished by using hyperlinks to more detailed pages if youre concerned about keeping visitors on-track.
• Contact information with names, phone numbers and pictures.

Anxiety presents a serious issue for affiliate marketers. But as you start to change your site for the better, you should see conversion increase and bounce rates decrease—and thats what its all about.

Related posts:

1. Google Making Changes Are your PPC landing pages well written and targeted, or...
2. If You Arent Using Our PPC Tracking You are Leaving Money on the Table We have had our PPC tracking capabilities available for InsureMe...
3. 7 Reasons Why Affiliates Need to Create a Ton of Landing Pages Time and time again I run across affiliates who spend...
4. Who’s Visiting and Where are They Going Occasionally we get a call from an affiliate who tells...
5. Are You Using Dayparting? Maybe You Should Be. PPC Master, John Hasson found a way to increase his...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.