I have posted a few comments on the state of web sites in the small business / medium business space. The K.I.S.S. principle, as well a reference to some statistics here.

A few more references, Bill Flag (President of Regonline) here states;

Our open account page used to have three times as many fields than it does now… and 1/3 the conversion rate! The conversion rate of a registration page is inversely correlated to the number of fields. The less fields, the more business we convert.

And a remark and excellent reference by Rick Spence on his Canadian Entrepreneur blog;

…. business people hate the Web because it involves two commodities that they don’t understand: technology and content. He claims 60% of businesses in Canada do not have websites, and “the ones who do have terrible sites. …. His handy formula: “Show. Do. Tell.

Let me add one additional point. Your web site must also quickly and effectively identify your value proposition, and how your value proposition will fix a customers problem, or pain. If you have multiple products or services, each needs the same treatment. One single page should identify with the customers pain or problem and how you can fix it.

In the second reference on this post, the Ottawa Business Journal article identifies that if your customer has to click through more than 5 pages, you will lose them. I have zero statistics supporting it, but that 5 pages number is probably less if a visitor to your site cannot even figure out what you do or what you sell - in other words, what your value proposition is.

Ensure that you add to your website building checklist;

Content that identifies what is your customers pain, and how you have the cure.