Website Design: Color Me Blue

Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him increase sales on his affiliate marketing site.

As he was describing his site and the problem, I thought, "This is going to be a quick fix."

How wrong I was!

His site was excellent. Other than a few minor points, it followed all my basic rules for a successful affiliate marketing site.

The site was focused around a single theme in a profitable niche, with an excellent selection of high-priced, high-commission products.

Chris had gone the extra mile to have his site professionally designed, and it was simple, elegant and user-friendly, employing consistent navigation and a nifty database-driven search results system.

He was working directly with his merchant partners to create ad copy that offered his visitors the best possible deals.

And he was advertising in the pay-per-click search engines to drive tons of targeted traffic, and using hundreds of keyword listings with brilliantly worded titles and descriptions.

So, why on earth were his sales so low?

I knew I was picking at straws, but during our first session, I made a host of recommendations for improvement, which included:

- a domain name change
- a background color change
- reformatting the page table size
- rephrasing offers more positively
- adding relevant graphics and photos
- dropping poor performing merchants
- adding a newsletter
- adding new products
- redirecting non-buyers to additional offers

Chris implemented all my suggestions as well as a few of his own. After giving the new version a few weeks to prove itself, we scheduled our second teleconsulting session. I was anxious to hear how well the site was now performing.

You can appreciate my dismay when Chris told me that his sales had actually dropped!

Aargh!

I reviewed his site again, and it suddenly struck me... he should try blue links!

Why?

Because web design convention suggests that links should be blue, visited links purple and active links red. Although nothing written in stone about link color, I believe that those conventional colors should used whenever they compliment site design.

I'd changed my own site links, Sage-Hearts.com, from maroon to blue sometime before and noticed a nice conversion rate increase.

Sure enough, that WAS the answer to Chris' site problems...

His conversions increased 1100% almost overnight JUST by changing his link color to blue.

In addition to being underlined, people expect links to be blue, and in some cases visitors may have problems with sites that don't conform to their expectations.

With the average site visit lasting only about 8 seconds, we don't have time to waste confusing our visitors with basic site navigation. Use blue links if possible to keep your navigation instantly recognizable, unambiguous and consistent.

? Copyright Rosalind Gardner, All Rights Reserved.

Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the best-selling "Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other People's Stuff Online". To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to: http://netprofitstoday.com

car service from Midway Burlington .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare
In The News:

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says a malware app called SpyLend is posing as a financial tool, hitting 100,000-plus downloads.
Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says Clone Robotics’ Protoclone mimics humans with 1,000 muscles – too human for comfort.
Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson urges you to use Apple’s App Privacy Report to see what your apps are really up to.
Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson talks about how to smoothly transfer your data from an old laptop to a new one using cloud storage or external drives.
Kurt the CyberGuy offers tips to safeguard your personal information as scammers become more sophisticated with scam texts and other methods.
WeRide's unmanned electric delivery van, the Robovan W5, has 194 cubic feet of cargo space and can carry payloads up to about 2,205 pounds
Kurt the CyberGuy recommends deleting 16 browser extensions immediately in response to a report saying more than 3.2 million web users were affected by a security breach.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
A robotics firm in China claims a robot has performed the world's first humanoid robot front flip, which is significantly more difficult than a backflip.
A digital ID may be even more secure than a physical ID. Storing your driver's license in your Apple Wallet is an ideal solution for commuters.
A cybersecurity firm has shed some light on just how common tax scams have become. Kurt the CyberGuy offers his advice for how to protect your refund.
Lifesize Plans offers immersive walk-throughs that allow customers the opportunity to tour a home's design before construction actually begins.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
A man invested $4 million in bitcoin and lost it all with a single click when he was targeted by a vishing scam, which uses phone calls to trick people.
Expandable's Touchdown is a designer trailer that promises a luxury off-grid living experience and unfolds into a home in about 15 minutes.
Major employee screening company data breach affects 3.3 million people. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson explains what happened and gives five ways to protect your data.
Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson reveals mind-blowing tech that gives you sunlight on demand.
New malware "FrigidStealer" targets Mac computers. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers four ways to stay safe from infostealer malware.
Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson talks about how lab-grown muscles power a biohybrid hand for scalable prosthetics and research.
Reports of task scams have significantly risen in the past four years, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Kurt the CyberGuy offers some red flags.
iPhones have a hidden folder that eats up storage without you knowing it. Kurt the CyberGuy offers some tricks to free up storage on your device.
A recent ransomeware attack targeted Zacks, an American investment firm, and a cybercriminal claimed to have stolen records for millions of customers.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
Researchers unveiled a new soft prosthetic hand that combines the natural coordination patterns of our fingers with the decoding of motoneuron activity in the spinal column.
Accidentally deleting a text message on your iPhone or iPad is not a problem if you still need the message. Apple has a built-in way to recover it.

The Top 8 Website Sins Part One

They say the eyes are the window to the soul.... Read More

Are You Driving Away Potential Customers?

When a prospect lands on your website will he or... Read More

If Content is King who is Queen?

It's been said again and again, when it comes to... Read More

Explode Your Homepage And Replace It With Something Dynamite!

You know that I'm always extolling the virtues of an... Read More

Creating Your First Website? Your Options

Creating your own website is great fun! But how is... Read More

How Not to be Ripped Off by Your Website Designer

As web designer my self, I have had the unfortunate... Read More

Website Design: Color Me Blue

Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him... Read More

Website Design For Small Businesses

There are many different website design companies, offering different facilities... Read More

Create Favorite Icon

Favorite icon appears to the left of your link in... Read More

Sales Versus Customer Oriented Websites

Should Generating Revenue From A Website Be The Prime Motivator?... Read More

Successful Websites Don?t Set Out To Sell

What are websites? Are they sales tools for vendors and... Read More

What Content to Publish on Your Website

Many businesses want a simple website where they tell people... Read More

Top Ten Website Design Secrets for Internet Marketing Success

When it comes to marketing your website, you should really... Read More

What to Ask Your Web Designer

If you need a web designer, but have no clue... Read More

Why Long Web Pages are Better than Short Ones

Many Internet sites that try to sell you something have... Read More

Cheap Web Design

If you think it's simply a case of who will... Read More

My Top Ten List Of Extremely Annoying Web Page Design Elements!

Easy navigation and usability are one of the most important... Read More

How To Write An Effective FAQ Page

Websites that have multiple pages usually have a Frequently Asked... Read More

3 Tips For Writing Content That Will Make You Sales

Content is king. Without content your website is an empty... Read More

Nine Effective Tips For Improving Your Website?s Usability

Web usability is perhaps the most important factor in any... Read More

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Webmasters

A highly effective website will always reflect its highly effective... Read More

Plugging the Dreaded World Wide Web Black Hole is Just the First Step

You have created your custom error page so now all... Read More

Put Up A Website And Start Promoting In About An Hour

I can't figure out people who have products or information... Read More

Its No Good Having A Killer Product If You Dont Have A Killer Website

Read the title of this article over a couple of... Read More

Creating a Favicon

Once, I attempted to create a favicon (the little graphic... Read More

Granger limo Chicago ..