Health Insurance Quoting Site - 80% bounces. Why?

[nnorris]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the forum, but I've heard a lot of good feedback about the community.

I am a Web Designer that is coming in late to this project. Before I start my redesign process on this website I wanted to get your feedback.

http://nvinsurance.healthquotesoft.com

The purpose of the site is to funnel visitors from the home page to the quote page and motivate them, at the very least, to SAVE their quote by validating their email address.

The problem is that based on site statistics we have about an 80% bounce rate off the home page. Obviously people are not impressed, and I understand why.

I am hoping for you to give me a couple good ideas on the design and the functional conversion of visitors to this site.

Feel free to email me, or post, any questions you may have. I'll keep this post a living document as the communities ideas are implemented and the design updates organically.

Thanks

Nate


:cool: REVISION ROUND 1:
Thanks mrmazur - I have implemented basic changes based on your suggestions. I appreciate you taking the time to make specific suggestions.

[mrmazur]

To begin with, the site looks outdated and is not very professional. The main R & R Logo is grainy and unclean.

The font chosen (looks like Times New Roman) is a great font for print. However for web I would recommend using an Arial or Verdana family font as it tends to be easier to read and looks cleaner.

The blue stripe along at the top, in the links, and even in the background is a bit overpowering. You should tone this down to a more neutral blue (perhaps a #006699).

As far as the box at the top to get a quote...once again it just doesn't look very professional (especialy with that magic wand there). It's just crying for a good designer to replace it with something cleaner...less boxy.

That is all I have for right now. I'd like to see what you end up coming up with. Good luck!

[KDLA]

The homepage has a "homemade" quality to it; many reasons for that have already been pointed out by mrmazur.

The text is a little too casual, eg. "don't you just hate that?" There's a tone there that's almost like an infomerical. You might tone down the cutesy conversational stuff and provide more hard evidence as to why they should participate in your program.

Another reason people may turn away is that the login information (as well as a huge picture) is the first thing seen. This makes a visitor think they have to log in, in order to view the site. The introductory information for the prospective customer isn't seen unless they scroll.

In this spam-filled online world, many people automatically "shut down" when they have to provide an email address -- even when that's based on the misconception that they have to provide it to see your information. You might move the login to the right corner, where you currently have the address information. This will pull up the content significantly. Also downsize that picture. It doesn't contribute to the design at all, anyway.

You might investigate getting SSL protection, providing a secure login procedure - having the little yellow lock appear. When people are dealing with money or any personal information, they want to know that it's secure.

You also have no privacy policy/disclaimer. Viewers are becoming more savvy about looking for those things. When you're dealing with a touchy subject like health, it's best to have some sort of privacy policy.

Lastly, you need to provide the person options for receiving their information (email, phone, mail); and most importantly options for opting out - right on the front page. The last thing a person wants is to be bugged with telemarketing calls or spam email campaigns.

KDLA

[bathurst_guy]

I agree with past comments.
Plus, to add to the outdated, you have a graph that estimates the % for 2003... its now 2006.
And when I first visit the site, I don't actually know what its about untill i scroll down and have a read. When I visit a site, if I don't know what its about in the first 2 seconds (if that) most of the time im out of there - unless they have an interesting design that I want to look at more, or something like that - but im a designer so thats what i look for, whereas the average inet user wouldnt

[bpeh]

much has been said. i think the problem is people are not convinced and therefore, they do not click. I think an important point is that you have to make sure all the important messages are conveyed without letter them scroll. i dont see how the header,big signup link and login form on top tells the first time visitor anything.

[nnorris]

These are all VERY good suggestions. i really appreciate the time you've taken to critic this website. I'll be imprmenting subtle changes based on the above this week and post again, on this thread, when I feel the New and Improved site is up for review.

Thanks again

[dera]

I avoid anything written like an advertisement as a long page... and having the word free written times also makes the site loose credibility.