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Web Page Analyzer - free website optimization tool website speed test check website performance report from web site optimization on 2006-12-21
Scanning and Skimming for eye tracking users on 2006-12-20
- online we can communicate our points only
  if our text content:⁸
  
  is broken up by
  headings
  is shaped into
  lots of punchy, single idea paragraphs
  puts key
  phrases in bold face
  bullets key
  points
  avoids jargon
  and rhetoric
  is
  straightforward, and
  is short.
- When it comes to scanning and skimming, as in all matters
  business-related, always keep in mind that your mileage may vary. Maybe one
  of these suggestions just won’t work for your application. So think of this
  stuff in the broader sense of
  
  principles rather than
  rules,
- 11 more annotations...
- - Maximize familiarity: Structure
    your website in a way that is familiar and consistent. This will mean
    that the reader has less to learn and can more easily focus on the core
    content. For example, most people expect to find the 'Home' link in the
    top left of the page. Placing it anywhere else makes it more difficult
    for them to scan.
    Design from shallow to deep: A
    homepage should contain short text that brings the reader deeper into
    the website. As they link deeper you can provide more detailed content.
    
    Classify well: Choosing
    classification terms that are readily understandable to the reader is
    crucial.
    Write punchy headings and
    summaries: If the heading is not descriptive and compelling, the reader
    will likely leave.
    Be direct: Be short. Get to the
    point. Explain in precise, simple language exactly what you have to say
    to the reader.
    Don't waste the reader's time:
    Remember, the one word that best describes the scan reader is:
    impatient.
  - Don’t highlight everything;
    then you’re just back to Square One.
    Don’t highlight just for
    emphasis, as in “I really mean don’t highlight just for
    emphasis.” Highlight for critical information.
    Once you’ve highlighted the
    words, read them as if they were the only text on the page. Do they
    develop and carry the message?
  - Make the link as short and
    concise and intuitive as possible.
    It is important to include key
    words, or trigger words, as part of the link. “Users expect to find
    'trigger words' in the links. A trigger word is a word (or phrase) that
    causes the user to click. When the trigger words match the user's goals,
    they find those words right away and the links make them more confident
    that they are going to find their content.”⁶
    Make sure you deliver on the
    implicit promise of the link. If you embed a text link for “methodology”
    and that delivers the visitor to your page on “services,” you lose
    credibility.
  - Not everyone thinks pull quotes are brilliant solutions for scanners and
    skimmers. There is certainly one downside to graphic pull quotes: they
    generally don’t format properly in non-graphical browsers (such as Lynx
    text-only browser).
  - Text hyperlinks give your visitors quick access to the content they want
    without making them figure out your navigation system or requiring them to
    click through multiple layers of your Web site.
  - Within the paragraphs of your copy, some words and phrases are more
    important than others. When your visitor has made the decision to pay more
    attention to your copy, she’ll most likely skim it before truly committing
    to reading
  - Pull quotes can be more than graphic fillers. They help capture a
    visitor’s attention, illuminate your key points and add style to your Web
    page. They also can help break up large blocks of information to aid
    scanning.⁴
  - To create effective pull
    quotes, identify the key phrases in your copy and highlight them at
    various places in your layout.
    If you use several pull quotes,
    present them in the order of your message, then read them in order to
    see if they, independent of your text, make your point.
  - Keep main headings short enough
    to fit on one line. Main headings will define the message on your page.
    Use subheadings to continue,
    expand and visually separate your information. Subheadings also help a
    visitor more effectively orient herself when scrolling down long pages.
    If headings echo your
    navigation, make sure the words are exactly the same. This provides
    clarity and consistency for the visitor.
    Use headings as design
    features: different colors, different styles or sizes of type will help
    attract your visitor to the information, as well as help her scan for
    it.
    Consider indenting text from
    the left margin of the header. This creates additional white space that
    helps set off the heading and adds a greater feeling of balance to your
    page.
    Read just your headings. If
    they were the only words a visitor read on this page, would they
    communicate the basic point?
  - Headings are extremely important online. They are the points of reference
    on your Web page. They are also creative design elements. Headings create
    extra white space that allows your visitor to visually organize the
    information you are presenting.
  - if folks read online
    (and Jakob Nielsen says 79% of them don’t¹), they read “shallow but
    wide” and pay attention to text before they look at pictures.²
The Facts about FAQS on 2006-12-20
- Review
  
  Search Engine Data
  
  Read your referrer logs, especially search engine keywords
  language. The language your visitor chooses for the search query is an
  indication of her intent.
  Read your in-site search engine’s query logs. Turning the
  most common queries into highly visible content should be an ongoing
  process.
  Feed your in-site search engine. Make sure your search
  engine gives your customers results that are relevant to their needs, as
  well as takes them to the place you want them to go. Create market
  segment and product group landing pages and make them the top return
  results for the keywords you want.
- If you have a FAQ, review it mercilessly. Every one of these questions,
  presumably, is something your Web site has failed to answer in an intuitive
  and obvious way.
- 1 more annotations...
- - Read Your Emails
    
    Track your customers’ common questions. Forget the
    sophisticated email management systems; just copy and paste them into an
    access database which can easily be automated to scale up.
    See the same questions over and over and over? Find a way to
    answer that question up front in your pitch, your content, your product
    mix, in
    Point of Action assurances, or
    whatever seems most appropriate within the context of your Web site.
    Thinking you are awash in all those emails? Amazingly few
    people are actually motivated to write. Think of all the fish who didn’t
    bother to query and simply swam away.
Color and Usability on 2006-12-20
- You need strong contrast between any background color and
  the over-lying text color.
  Keep the backgrounds behind your text solid and plain – no
  patterned stuff.
  Make sure that color is not the only way you communicate
  information the visitor must understand to move forward in your process
  – indicating a field that needs to be corrected on a form through color
  alone is not a good idea.
  Employ color-coding very carefully – no more than five
  different colors and keep them consistent across the site.
  The best combination for readability is black text on a
  white background.
  If folks will be looking at the page for a long time, or if
  your specific audience is elderly, use brighter colors.
  So that visitors can easily distinguish your colors, “choose
  darker shades of blue, red and purple, and paler shades of green, yellow
  and orange.”
  When the difference between adjacent colors is necessary for
  meaning, don’t put red alongside green or blue alongside yellow.
  Don’t use grey for text or grayscale for diagrams that
  convey critical information.
  Because blue-receptors in the eye are least numerous, avoid
  blue for small text and diagrams with thin lines.
  Some color pairings can create headaches, perceived
  vibrations, phantom shadows and other optical illusion type situations
  for your visitors. Avoid pairing color chart opposites (e.g. blue and
  red) and high chroma colors (e.g. blue and yellow).
- At least 10 percent of your audience has some form of vision impairment
  that makes it difficult for them to see your Web site as you intend it to be
  seen.
- 1 more annotations...
- - Do you see what I’m getting at? If the ability to distinguish color is a
    critical element of your site’s persuasion architecture, then your site
    isn’t as user-friendly as it could be.
Beyond Usability II: Is Your Web Site a Tool on 2006-12-20
- Two other types of traffic – those who know approximately what they are
  looking for and those who have an interest but may not actively be in a
  buying mode – constitute almost every commercial Web site’s sweet spot.
- More than any other medium, commercial Web sites attract folks who know
  exactly what they want – a chicken-and-the-egg proposition that reinforces
  the idea commercial sites should be designed as tools. But these folks
  represent the smallest part of your prospect base.
- 4 more annotations...
- - Motivate
    your visitors and you’ve accomplished the lion’s share of the job.
  - Your visitors are more than simply “users” of the “software.”
    None of them is required to be there – they interact with you because they
    expect to find something relevant to what they seek.
  - Research shows that most visitors get to a Web site
    via four channels: they type in the url directly; they locate a link through
    a search engine, they respond to a link in an email communication; or they
    follow the advice of a friend.
  - The purpose of your site is to attract, engage with and retain prospects,
    leads and customers – and it accomplishes this in a medium that is difficult
    to control.
It’s Not About Mind Control on 2006-12-20
- And it is the job of your Web site to help them identify
  what they want, supply them the information they need in order to make a
  decision, and then motivate them to take action.
- these three groups of visitors wind up on your Web site
  because they chose to come
- 2 more annotations...
- - Persuasion is about providing “the full story” that helps your
    visitors take action,2 it’s about keeping things simple, facilitating
    decisions, providing motivation and inspiring desire.
  - The goal of a commercial Web site is to get a person to take an action –
    to buy something, to opt-in to a mail list, subscribe to a newsletter,
    register and so on. To take this action, the person has to be persuaded
    there is value in taking the action.
Price is Right: transactional and relational customers on 2006-12-20
- each group of shoppers accounts for 50% of the
  sales volume, but the three transactional shoppers account for 83% of all
  store visits, while the three relational shoppers account for only 17% of
  all store visits.
- The relational shopper:
  
  considers today’s transaction to be one in a long series of many
  future exchanges. The business has priority over the product.
  fears only making a poor choice. Confidence is the primary motivator
  of a purchase.
  doesn’t enjoy the process of shopping and negotiating.
  is looking principally for an expert he can trust.
  considers his time to be part of the purchase price.
  feels confident he has found ‘the right place to buy.’ The relational
  shopper is very likely to become a repeat customer.
- 1 more annotations...
- - The transactional shopper:
    
    is focused only on today’s transaction and gives little thought to the
    possibility of future purchases.
    fears only paying more than she has to pay. Price is the primary
    determinant of value.
    enjoys the process of comparing and negotiating, and will shop at
    several stores before making a decision to purchase.
    does her own research so she won’t need to consult an expert.
    Consumer Reports is published primarily for the transactional shopper.
    
    doesn’t consider her time spent shopping as part of the purchase
    price.
    is anxious to share the ‘good deal’ she’s found. The transactional
    shopper is an excellent source of word-of-mouth advertising.
Lead Generation website tips on 2006-12-20
- Measure time spent on the site
- Measure your responses
- 11 more annotations...
- - Measure your leads-to-close ratio
  - Measure reject rates, especially on your contact pages
  - Test, measure and optimize. A big part of improving your lead
    generation lies in evaluating what you’ve done so you can figure out how to do
    it better.
  - Qualify. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of helping your
    visitors qualify their needs
    so they can find what they are looking for and get to it quickly. It’s a
    process that needs to begin on the home page.
  - Keep things need-to-know. As need-to-know as possible. You might
    want to get information that includes everything from name to shoe size, and you
    can certainly ask for it. But the more information you ask for, the less likely
    folks are to give it to you.
  - Help them see it. No two ways about it, if your visitors can’t make
    visual heads or tails of your content quickly, they aren’t going to stick
    around, and you won’t generate a lead.
  - focus on your visitors. Let them
    know you understand their needs and what matters to them. Put them center
    stage.
  - Less We-we-ing. It’s not about you!
  - If you have to include specific
    terminology, make it available, but give it a lower profile – those who want to
    know if you can really talk the talk will look to find it.
  - No jargon. Unless you’re marketing to a select audience that
    absolutely requires you to communicate your credibility through insider-speak –
    jargon – stay away from the stuff.
  - The message must be meat. The most important thing to focus on is
    identifying what really matters to your visitors. What motivates them to seek
    you out? What problems are you solving for them? What friction points are you
    reducing for them? Identify the
    benefits that
    you and your products or services confer.
Optimize for Customer Satisfaction on 2006-12-20
- No matter how you think your business model should operate or what you
  think your Web site should accomplish, the needs and satisfaction of your
  customers should never take a back seat to internal imperatives.
- The purpose of business is to create and keep a
  customer.
- 1 more annotations...
- - optimize for customer satisfaction
An Architect's Secret for Marketers on 2006-12-20
- The design or redesign of a Web site requires the input of many
  specialists, including technical programmers, information architects,
  copywriters, designers, usability folks, marketers and people who understand
  the consumer psychology of selling and buying. But it also needs the
  synthetic, coordinating abilities of an architect.
- The way clients are looking to the future requires that we study our
  client’s situation more than we have ever done before. If we are to succeed,
  we must learn a great deal about how clients are organized and what strategies
  underlie their way of doing business.
- 1 more annotations...
- - the visible form and the aesthetic
    quality for the building will emerge as part of the problem-solving, in
    contrast to the earlier approach of starting with a preconceived image and
    fixing the functionality to suit.

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