Are you turning away website visitors by doing this?

Have you ever been to a website where there is so much information, to have certain information standout there are 10 different fonts, 7 colors of text, and 5 sentences that are in bold?  If you are like me, you have left the website immediately.

Today, I want to talk about…

The 100% rule

The 100% rule says that a website visitor only has 100% of their attention to give to a webpage (maybe less if they are distracted from other things).

Each paragraph, graphic, link, etc on a webpage shares that 100%.  Not that each item receives equal attention, but it will get some, even if it is only 1-2%.  But it does mean that if you have 15 items on your webpage (5 graphics, 5 paragraphs, and 5 menu items), that even the most important information might only receive 10% of the visitor’s attention.  10%!!!  Do you think that is enough attention to get your point across to the visitor?

So what do you do when you have so many ideas and thoughts to convey on a webpage? Here are

5 things you can do to keep your visitor focused on what’s most important:

1. Review the page as if you were a visitor.  Put yourself in the shoes of someone going to your website.  Is there too much information to handle?
2. Most important info at the top.  Don’t put the most important information towards the bottom of the page.  Determine the order of importance of what you want to convey to the reader and put the most important item on top.
3. Use bullet points.  Bullet points are a great way to shorten the text on a page.  You don’t need to have complete sentences and viewing a page with bullet points makes it easier for the visitor to digest more information.
4. Delete.  Think about all the information that is on the webpage.  Is it necessary to have it all?  Can some be removed?
5. Create other pages.  If you have so much information that you cannot remove any of it, try separating it into multiple pages.  Besides the benefit of having less for the visitor to focus on when viewing each page, it also allows you to target more specific topics on each page, which will allow you to target additional keywords in the search engines.

What are your thoughts on the 100% rule?  Do you think it applies to church and ministry websites?  What are you doing to showcase the most important information on your website?  Please leave your comments and thoughts below.

Mark Steinbrueck

President at OurChurch.Com

Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.

Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.

Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.