All too often, Web pages, even homepages, provide readers with a variety of choices, but don't really provide a clear way forward.

This is particularly true when a site has multiple products or services to sell.

But this lack of direction is also evident on some sites that have just a single offering.

Help your visitors move forward...

If visitors read your homepage and become interested in something you are selling or offering, what should they do next?

Where should they click? Are they ready to go directly to the order page? Would conversions be higher if visitors first read a full sales page?

One way or another, you need to make it simple and obvious to the reader what he or she should do next.

I have seen pages where you read and read down the center column for two or three screens, but then there is no link forward at the end of the text. You have to scroll back up and actively look for links that might advance you toward buying the products.

I have seen pages where you read and read, but then have to scroll back up to find the "Next Step" link further up the page, sometimes even in another column.

I have seen pages where you read the text and find three or four different hyperlinks within the text... but no primary link at the end of the page. So which of those links should I click on?

The more you make your readers struggle, the lower your conversion rates...