As a contributing writer for Book Business Magazine, one of my latest articles was included in their print magazine edition (yes, there are still a few print magazines left in America). But, they recently added the article online for the public to view. If you’re a publisher or author who sells books from your website, you need to read this essential information…
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The average consumer isn’t likely to buy something that appears confusing or unfamiliar to them. Yet, if you visit the website of most book publishers and authors, they seem to think people have no fear of the unknown. For instance, the typical website homepage throughout the publishing industry represents an online display of books pleading to be purchased. But this begs the question, why would someone make a purchase when they’re unfamiliar with those titles?
If you review the traffic statistics for most websites on the Internet, you will see that the majority of visitors are new to that site. In most cases, first-time visitors comprise 60 to 75% of the total online audience every month. In contrast, returning visitors only make up around 25 to 40% of a website’s total traffic. If you’re skeptical about these numbers, look at your own website data or setup a free Google Analytics account (see sample chart at right).
Does it matter if the majority of website visitors are first-timers? Absolutely! In order for a website to be effective, it must be optimized to engage new people. More importantly, first-time visitors think and act differently from repeat visitors. Here’s why…
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