12 Web Site Design Mistakes

3. Click, click — good-bye. Keep consumers moving swiftly through your site, Huey said, not making them stop to click along the way.

4. Dysfunctional copy. Huey provided nine essential online direct response copy rules, the most important direct marketing function:

* avoid myopic marketing — talk from the consumer's perspective, not the company's;
* publicize your unique selling proposition by including the following some place on the site: “Nowhere else will you find X that does Y for you”;
* have a theme with one clear promise;
* follow up that one big promise with secondary benefits;
* be conversational;
* be inclusive — the power of “you”;
* begin with your strongest selling point — “the law of the first paragraph”;
* specifics sell, generalities kill response; and
* sell benefits, not features: “You'll save X per year by using our product.”