Have you ever looked to see which search terms your visitors are using whilst on your site?

Using Google Analytics can ensure that you know what people are looking for whilst on your site.

Perhaps you sell a product or brand that is hard to spell, or is know by what it does as well as a specific brand or model. Think about generic terms, such as Hoover, Sellotape, Post It Notes, Kleenex, Band Aid and the many others.

What about sizes, quantities or colours? What about model names, or equivalents?

Ensuring that you know what your visitors are looking for will help you to have the right products or information available, and how else you can meet the needs of your target audience.

If you want to know what your visitors think about your website, why not have a survey on your site?

You’ll be able to find out what people think, and what they like and don’t like, and how you can improve things.

However, you don’t want to make your survey too intrusive. Having it pop up the minute a visitor lands on your site, and asking what people think about your site will be pointless.

People won’t bother to fill in your survey if they just want some information, or prices or opening hours. Putting up barriers will discourage visitors from being customers.

A survey that pops up quite discreetly and asks relevant questions as your visitor is leaving your site is more likely to be completed.

Knowing want to do with the results of your survey will also be important!

Another way of finding out what your visits think is to either ring them or to send a postage paid survey form with each order.

Richer Sounds use surveys and customer satisfaction forms to see where customer service can be improved.

Using incentives such as a prize or vouchers or other ways to convince people to fill in your surveys is a good idea too.

What other ways can you think of to get people’s opinions and find out how you can improve your website.

The well known car lover and presenter Jeremy Clarkson once went to a boat show in order to buy a boat.  He was bombarded with information,  specifications and prices, as well as pushy sales people trying to impress.

He commented that it must be how people who aren’t “into” cars feel when they go to buy a car.

I was thinking, that it could apply to websites too.  If you’re wondering how visitors feel when they’re trying to buy from your site, why not try buying products or services that you know nothing about from a site that you find in the search engine results.

For example:

If you sell cars, why not try buying a boat or a caravan?

If you sell clothes, why not try buying sports equipment?

If you sell insurance, then choose an architect, or a solicitor

If you sell computers, why not buy a bike, or fishing tackle.

By having to choose something that you know nothing about, you”ll have to do some research, and ask around, in the same way that your potential customers do.  You’ll be finding that every other word is jargon, and you’re expected to know what it means.  You might not know the difference between 2 fishing rods, or what size frame your bike should be, or whether your can tow the caravan you’re interested in.

You’ll be able to learn lots from this sort of activity, and  make your site easier to use, and more approachable for people who don’t know what they want, or how to choose what they want.

If you find looking for fishing tackle hard, and there are lots of options, and essential accessories you need, and brands to choose from, as well as fishing bags, reels, bait and waders, how do think a first time computer buyer feels when looking on your website?  Not everyone knows about hard drives, broadband, RAM, graphics cards and so on.  People don’t want to buy a laptop, they want to be able to use websites.  They’re  probably not bothered about bus speeds, they want to know if there’s a web camera, or how easy it is to install a printer, and how many songs or videos the computer can hold.

If you find a fishing tackle site, with a “rod finder” guide, that asks lots of questions about what you’re fishing for, where you’re fishing, and how much you want to spend, you’re much more likely to be able to find your perfect fishing rod.

If you stumble across a website for a firm of solicitors that puts you at ease, then how could you make your insurance, or financial advice site as easy to use and reassuring?

What aspects of the various sites you look at could you use? What made you click on them in the first place? Did  you just look at sites or brands you already knew? Were the results what you expected?

What aspects of customer service, or the delivery details did you like? How much attention did you pay to the About Us or Mission Statement pages, and why?  What affect did the colours or fonts have on you.  What about navigation? What about the tone of the copy? What about images and  logos? Would having videos describing how to use your products, or what to look for when buying your products be beneficial to your customers? Would your customers benefit from being able to discuss their purchases or hobbies with a forum?

There are many things that you can take from this sort of activity, and by seeing things from your potential visitors and customers point of view, and understanding that not everyone shares your passion for power drills, or is as keen on koi carp as you are, you’ll be able to make your website easier to use, and the  buying experience much better.

Why not give it a try?

When thinking about who uses your site, remember to think about how and where they use it too.

Remember that not everyone will be sat at a desktop computer with a 22″ monitor.  Nowadays people will browse shopping sites, and use Facebook and Twitter on a laptop in front of the TV.   They will also be using their phone too.

If your site is for a venue, such as a restaurant, or a theatre, or maybe a theme park, or a car dealer, or even an electrical store on an out of town retail park, it’s essential that your site will work properly on a phone.

Don’t underestimate the importance of being able to find your site whilst on the move.  Think about the sort of people who will be looking for your site, and the situations they will be in.

A mother might be looking for an all night chemist with a poorly baby in the car.  A family lost on their way to a theme park after a long and hot drive on a bank holiday might need to know how to get there avoiding the motorway.  Somebody looking for a museum, or a zoo, a football ground or a stately home or an art gallery might need to check opening hours, or where the best car parks are.

If your site does give directions, then make them useful.  Not everybody knows road names or numbers, and just because the road name is listed on the map, it doesn’t mean that there is a street name sign at the junction.

Why not think about using local landmarks, or prominent buildings.  It’s much easier to suggest that drivers follow signs to Somewhere, and then take the turning after the Pub, than it is to tell them to follow the A123 for 2.3 miles, and then take the B456 for approximately 1 mile.

If you’re located directly opposite the Supermarket, or behind the church, or next to the post office, then why not tell people.  Not everyone is local, and so it’s easier if they have a landamark to look out for.  In addition, if they need to ask for directions, they’ll know what to ask for.

Don’t forget to put your post code prominently on your site,  so that those using satellite navigation can quickly get directions.

Why not make sure that you have your opening hours or entrance prices clearly visible on your site?

Why not make sure that visitors can find out where the branch of your shop is in Anytown? If people are searching for Your Company Name in Town, does the relevant page come up showing them the directions, address and phone number? Is the top result a complaint about your company?

It’s worth making sure that you perform searches like these, so that you know what results your potential visitors and customers will get.

How else can you make it easier for those people on the move to find you?

Thanks to Boagworld Podcast 211, at http://www.boagworld.com for inspiration and the nudge.

If you’re in the process of redesigning you website, or adding and removing pages, or revamping your content, it’s essential that you make a note of the existing pages, and redirect them to the new pages, as necessary.

People who have bookmarked you pages, or who link to your content will be greeted with your error page the next time they visit, and will think that there is something wrong with your site.

Using 301 redirects will not only help your visitors find what they are looking for, but will also help the search engines to know where your content has moved to as well.

If you decide to add more content,  or have separate pages or sections, or are adding and removing products from your range, then think your users, and how they will find what they need, if you haven’t used redirects.

In addition, have you got redirects in place if there are common misspellings of your products, or staff names, or other ways in which you can make it easier and quicker for people to find what they want.

Why not take a moment to ensure that all of your redirects are up to date in your .htaccess file?

What other ways can you make redirects more useful?