That Splash Page may be driving traffic away from your site
Splash pages are not as popular as they once were, but I still come across them on occasion. A splash pages is an intro page that generally leads into the home page of a website. Often they include flash or some other creative graphic treatment.
We tend to discourage clients from utilizing splash pages as they can be an annoyance to website visitors and ultimately drive prospects away from your website. I’ve got a way to tell if this is the case, if your site still utilizes a splash page.
I am a strong supporter of web analytics as we work with businesses that are looking to generate new sales leads or sell products online. Measurements are a key component in determining if a website is accomplishing its goals or not and web analytics provide the data from which to make those determinations.
By utilizing web analytics to track website traffic patterns you can tell where site visitors go once they hit your splash page. Some may go to the home page, while others may leave the site altogether.
One of our recent web analytics assessments revealed that 16% of site visitors abandoned the clients site after landing on the splash page. Some of these visitors may have been potential customers.
In this situation we are recommending that the client remove the splash page and do further testing. This will enable them to make an informed decision about their splash page and then proceed accordingly.
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Duane,
1I agree that splash pages have somewhat lost their luster. Users are usually in a hurry and don’t have the time for them or know exactly where they want to go. I recently was helping my son search for sites and on one was lead surprisingly to a video that wasn’t prompted. As you mentioned, web analytics would be a useful tool for this site to evaluate its effectiveness.
Duane, thank you for pointing this out. Splash pages are very annoying. I have never understood the concept. When I come to a site with one I generally have a much harder time finding the information I need. They seem to make it much more cumbersome to find your way around the site. I can see Google Analytics really helping to see the effect of a splash page for a site.
2