How many times do you go to a web site and see “Welcome” on the home page?

It’s really a terrible practice.

Usually, it indicates that whoever wrote the page couldn’t think of a better way to engage the visitor.

Yes, you do want to “welcome” people to your site … but when folks land on your site they are not sure yet that they want to “go inside.”

It’s more like they are standing outside your store window and looking at your display.

If you saw someone outside looking at your display, you might think about what you could put next to a display item to entice him or her to go inside.

Maybe you would add a sign that said: Come in and try out our ergonomic chairs yourself. Your back will go, “Ahhhh!”

Or you might even walk outside and say, “You know we only have three of those left in stock …”

An even better analogy is that your visitors are standing outside your store window, which is in a bad neighborhood. The Internet is full of scams and visitors need to know if it’s safe to go inside your store.

You must both “interest” your visitor and reassure her that it’s “safe” to go in.

Finally, always remember that your web site visitors have the attention span of a gnat, so you need to do all of the above in a few seconds or visitors won’t “go inside” your web site.

Easy Web Tip #90: The top of your home page is super-valuable real estate. Putting “Welcome” there is a total waste of that space and costing you traffic.