7 Influencers of People Your Web Site Needs
Filed Under Internet
In a prior article we said the essential visitors to a website were search engines and people. It doesn’t really matter which one we view as being more important, suffice to say both are important and both are essential for a website to flourish.
In the former article, seven of the most important aspects of web site optimization for search engines were discussed. Although we are examining web site optimization as separate parts one part for people the other part for search engines in reality they must be dealt with at the same time during the optimization process.
This is because in practice the requirements for effective web site optimization for a search engine, is frequently at odds with the web site optimization requirements for people. This is a frequent dilemma that requires compromise in favor of one or the other.
In this article we take web site optimization further to see how it can influence the behaviour and perceptions of people visiting a web site.
But first, have you done any web site optimization or webpage optimization for people visitors ?
If so:
Do you know which of your webpage optimization measures produced results ?
I suspect like the majority of web site owners your answer would probably be NO for one or both of these questions. Assuming you knew what to look for it would still be difficult to remain objective about your own web site, especially if you were closely involved in the original design.
What is especially beneficial is the trained eye of an independent person to shed new light on aspects of the design that could be improved. If you would like your web site to undergo this type of analysis complete a webpage optimization form on our website for a FREE evaluation.
Determining what and how effective webpage optimization is, can only really be done through visitor tracking and measuring definable visitor actions, combined with A/B split-testing or Multivariate split-testing.
When carrying out an evaluation we suggest the emphasis be on seven factors that exert the most influence over human behaviour.
There are many behavioural influencers but the most important ones are listed below:-
Visual Look
The overall color scheme should be sympathetic to the theme of the site, with text of a size and color that makes it easy to read. Backgrounds or images should not be distracting and should compliment the look and theme of the web page providing additional useful information and enhancing the visitor’s perception and understanding of the site. Avoid using images that do not contribute to conveying the message or perception you want to create in the visitors mind.
Visitor Impression
The web page should clearly convey the impression you want to create or the main message you want to give the visitor within 3 seconds of them first viewing the page. Visitors expect to get a quick impression of what your web page is offering. If people can’t work this out quickly most will generally become frustrated and move to another page, or another web site.
Transparency and Offer Value
A visitor must be able to clearly determine what your web site is offering. If the visitor can not clearly determine what’s on offer they will go elsewhere. The value of your proposition or offer needs to be clear. The page must answer questions in the mind of the visitor such as, how does this benefit them, in what way is the offer of value to them and what makes your offer so special that they should buy from you.
Easy Flow
In general try to use single column page layouts, multiple columns work in newspapers but not so well on a web page. Eye tracking studies conducted on multi-column page layouts have shown they significantly distract the visitor from reaching the main objective of the page. Many studies have also shown that in general, key information or impressions you want to impart to the visitor should be across the top of the page below the header, in the top left corner and page center. Using these guidelines a layout can be designed with minimal distractions and an easy to follow flowing path to the objective of the page.
Web Page Navigation
Page navigation should be easy to see and easy to follow, with on-page links that look like links – standard underlined blue text. Use should be made of title tags and image tags in the page design to convey further information to the visitor. Using link and image tags will make your site more accessible to the visually impaired and add to your compliance to W3C web design standards.
Site Navigation
This often creates a conflict for web site optimization as the site navigation preferred for people is frequently not the best for the search engines, since the two requirements are usually not the same. For common links to pages throughout the site we usually advise a top or side of page navigation menu that should have a consistent location and appearance throughout the site. The home page is usually the only exception. Large sites can benefit from a search box and all except sites with less than 10 pages, should have a site map as a further aid to visitor navigation.
The Proposition Experience
If a page is offering opt-ins, downloads or products and services for sale, then the system the visitor must follow should be short and without distractions and hindrances. A poorly designed fulfillment system is a major contributor to offer abandonment.
Common failings are:
- Failing to reaffirm the value of the proposition
- Lack of confidence and trust builders
- Assurance measures not placed within the customers eye path
- Asking for too much information too early in the process
- A lack of visitor reassurance during key stages of the process
- Too many steps in the process
- Insufficient use of confidence boosting measures
If you have a fulfillment or order process with more than 3 steps you should look closely to see what can be done to shorten the process.
Page Access Time
Since the coming of the age of broadband Internet, many web site designers have abandoned mainly text web page designs preferring instead graphical designs with flash movies and videos. Modern web pages have become so bloated that even for someone with a high-speed Internet connection they can be slow for a visitor to download to their web browser.
The net result is for around 40% of web users without high-speed broadband such web sites are completely inaccessible or take longer to download than most people are prepared to wait.
What makes the problem far worse is that many image laden web pages are not effectively optimized. By that we mean they do not use graphic images, flash and movies that have been optimized for the smallest file size while maintaining quality. We consistently find it possible to make savings of 50% and more, through proper graphical, image and video optimization.
We provide web design and web site optimization services that enable site owners to improve functionality and increase profitability of their web sites. We also specialize in web design and research and publish free reports on webpage optimization.
Most of our web site optimization services we supply with Guaranteed Results or You-Don’t-Pay. For many of our services you pay us nothing if we don’t achieve the agreed results.
We also provide web site optimization services, site evaluations and carry out product investigations. Visit us for one of our FREE web site optimization reports or a consultation on your web site.