One of the reasons my wife and I shop at ALDI (the discount supermarket) is the limited number of choices we have there! Choices are good but too many choices are just overwhelming.
When the visitors come to your site, let’s say to the home page, do you give them one choice or many? Typically the home page has something on what you do, a header banner (or a flash presentation), a note asking the visitor to subscribe to your newsletter, highlighting the specials you are currently running, the news about your company or news about your industry or something media said about your company etc. Can you imagine how many things are “asking” for the visitors’ attention?
Keep one goal per page. If there is more than one ‘call to action’ or other distractions on the page, then the visitor will either NOT do what you want them to do or totally bail out.
Have you seen the single page sites that have very long copy? The tests prove that they convert much better than the “professionally designed” websites. You know why? Because those pages have one goal – convert. If the visitor is not interested, then they leave.
On your website, if the visitor is not interested in the action you want them to take on one page, then they go to other pages and check to see if something else interests them (e.g. free white paper). Having several goals (or worse having no goal therefore having multiple distractions on the page) only create friction on the site for the visitor. The less the friction the easier it is for the visitor to read and be on your website.
Give them a chance to buy from you.
