Web Design
The Psychology of Web Design
Good website design is noticeable to almost everyone that will visit your website, not just web designers. For people that use the internet frequently it is easy to identify valuable websites from the rest. When you see a website for the first time you make an instant judgement on its quality and relevance. Even if it is done subconsciously, we are able to take a fairly accurate impression very quickly. In fact, in 2006 the BBC News website reported on a study which showed that the brain makes decisions in just one 20th of a second of viewing a webpage. This first impression is then carried over to other parts of the website, like content and professionalism. So you can see why it is essential to make a good first impression.
How is all this possible, you might ask?
It is simply recognition – the mind is able to recognise a combination of general human psychological and website design factors (which are not actually independent of one another) at extremely high rates of speed, in the same way that you are able to to recognise several letters jumbled together as a specific word and assign meaning to it. Psychology has always played a part in internet usage, but we are only recently beginning to understand the depth of its effects. When you break it down, web design is simply the manipulation of content and images on a website to appeal to the perceptions of a target audience.
How is this useful in your web design?
How To Establish Yourself Online
If you are only just starting to think about creating an online business for yourself, it’s understandable if you feel intimidated by the sheer number of people already out there doing exactly the same thing.
How can you compete with people who have already set up shop and have a good base of customers?
Everyone has something to offer, and the key to success online is to build a business around something you enjoy – something you have a natural affinity for. It’s easier to become an expert in this kind of subject, and becoming an expert is what will get you noticed and established.
Take the time to build a business of real worth. You don’t have to dive in the deep end and build your own website. Why not start with your own blog instead? If you don’t have any products of your own to promote then join a website which grants free access to the best affiliate programs out there. People often start earning an income online by becoming affiliates for programs that interest them.
You can also write articles for other websites that point back to your own site or blog. The more work you do and the more you learn, the more other people will start to recognise you as someone who knows what they are talking about.
It’s good to start out with some sort of plan of what you would like to achieve. This can be altered, added to or changed as you go along, but it will at least point you in a good direction to begin with.
How Important Are Graphics On A Website?
We always hear that the content of a website is the key to its success. Without good articles, news, blogs and similar items, a website is doomed to fail.
But what about the graphics? How important are they to the overall success of a website?
Let’s look at an example. When you are surfing the internet and you come across a website, what makes you decide whether to stay or carry on surfing? If a website uses neon colors and flashing banners to try and catch your attention, the chances are you will click away quickly. But if that site is well presented, with a good mix of graphics and text, you may well stay for a closer look.
Content is important, but the graphics help to balance out the text, breaking it up and making it more readable. They also support the text – so they shouldn’t just be there for the sake of it. All good graphics have a purpose, which is to draw the casual surfer in and get them involved in the site – and preferably encourage them to order something.
Graphics can create a compelling image and persuade a surfer to buy your product. Think of ‘Buy it Now’ buttons, for example. These sometimes appear with the graphic of a mouse arrow over the top of the button, prompting the surfer to click onto the next page to make their payment.
Graphics can also make all the difference between a sale and a near miss, especially when it comes to products like e-books. Because e-books are downloaded straight to the buyer’s computer, there is no eye catching cover or real solid product to show the purchaser. This problem is solved by creating a graphic of a book which has a stunning cover to promote the product itself. The color of this graphic often matches the overall color tones of the whole website – especially if used on a so called ‘mini site’, which promotes a single product only.
Creating A Profitable Website
In order to compete in today’s marketplace, your website must be of the highest quality. Several elements must combine in order to present a persuasive website that is capable of raking in the profits.
To this end, you must start with a headline that is targeted towards your customer base. Concentrate on presenting the best benefit of your website in a single sentence. Don’t promote your site – simply tell your customers how they will benefit from staying on your site. Keep the headline short – according to research you have about eight seconds to capture their attention and prevent them from surfing elsewhere. Use those eight seconds wisely and make every word count.
You also need to ensure your website is easy to navigate. Everything should be geared to the fact that people online have a short attention span, so don’t expect them to search for information. Ease of use is vital – make sure your website has an accurate site map and menu to allow them to explore easily.
When it comes to the sales copy, don’t underestimate the value of rewriting it over and over again until it’s tight and coherent. Every single word must earn its place and it should all be positive and encouraging. Good sales copy that does the job paints an accurate picture for the customer, telling them exactly how they will benefit from buying your product or service. Invest in a manual by a top copywriter to polish your copy and produce even better sales results.
You might think that telling your customers exactly how to order by walking them through it step by step is akin to talking down to them, but this is exactly how it’s done online. By all means direct them to ‘click here’ when you get to the big red order button that takes them to the payment page; if your sales copy has been persuasive enough people will continue to follow your direction as they go through the ordering process.
Developing A Trusted Website
The first impression a person has of your website will very likely determine how long they will spend looking around it. Trust is a big issue on the internet, and it is your responsibility to make sure every concern a potential customer may have is resolved before it has a chance to even arise.
The main question to ask is – how professional does your website look? If it looks like it’s been designed by someone who has just left college, it’s time for an overhaul. Hire a professional designer to create a site for you – the money it costs will more than be paid back in the extra sales it will generate.
When you are developing your website ask yourself what would prevent you from ordering when you visit someone else’s site. Accessibility is a big issue with online markets; you need to reassure people that your business is legitimate, and the best way to do that is to ensure they can ring you if they have any questions or queries.
Make sure you include full contact details on your site, including an address that any returns or correspondence can be sent to. Avoid post office boxes at all costs; they give out the impression you are hiding behind them.
The internet takes away the need for face to face contact with your customers, which means any telephone contact is even more important to get right. Answer the phone promptly when it rings, and if any problems arise try and resolve them during the call. Good customer relations and service are priceless in any business, and the nature of the internet makes this aspect even more important.
Tips For Improving Your Website
What’s the most important aspect of your website? A few things probably spring to mind, but content is by far the most vital to your success. The more relevant and up to date content you can provide on a regular basis, the more reasons you will give surfers to revisit your site.
People come to the internet looking for information. If they get what they need from your site, the chances are they will bookmark you for future reference. Not only can this lead to more potential clients, they may also recommend you to others.
Don’t cram all your content into one solid lump though. Break it into easily readable chunks and use graphics to draw a surfer’s attention to specific areas of your website. Overall each page should have a balanced feel, and it may take time to achieve the best results.
One of the best ways to ensure repeat visits is to integrate a blog into your site. Make sure you update it regularly with relevant and interesting articles that are of interest to your target market. A blog is also a very good way to familiarise your visitors with your business. Keep them in the loop about any new developments or products that your business is working on, as this can help to pre-sell future products before they even come into existence.
Your website should also be easy to navigate, and to this end it’s vital to include a site map. This will enable the surfer to link to any and all other pages on your site, whatever page they happen to be on. You want to keep people on your site for as long as possible, but you also want to help them find what they are looking for without any hassle.
Which Words Not To Include On Websites
In a recent poll taken by more than 2,000 UK computer users, Internet words like ‘netiquette’, ‘blook’, and ‘wiki’ were found to be the most annoying and caused users to leave certain websites that included them. While you can’t possibly know all the words that are despised by the Internet community, you should pay close attention to the keywords and phrases that are being used most often so you can increase traffic to your website by including them in your content.
Choosing the right keywords to use in web page titles and headlines is one of the most difficult steps when creating a website because they are cues that tell visitors what to expect as they are reading your content. Using the wrong words can mean the difference between making a sale or losing one.
Use these suggestions below when choosing keywords for titles and headlines.
DON’T USE SLANG TERMS
Most people do not use slang terms when looking for information on the Internet, so they may not be an effective keyword. Including them in web page titles and headlines is not appropriate if you want a steady stream of visitors. Not only can slang be offensive, it will not reach a wide audience.
OVERUSING ONE KEYWORD
The most effective web pages have a keyword density of about 5%. Usually three or four keywords are used on one page. Only choose one keyword to use in the title and use other keywords in your headlines. By sprinkling keywords throughout, you will increase your chances of being found by web spiders. Too many keywords and your web site will be flagged as spam.
USE POPULAR KEYWORDS IN TITLES AND HEADLINES
Why Use Landing Pages?
Landing pages are a critical part of any online marketing strategy. But before we talk about landing pages, it’s important to remember that the two critical success factors to any online marketing campaign is traffic (the number of people that visit your site) and conversions (the number of people that take action when they get to your site).
Websites…
When most businesses start building a website, they automatically go with the standard design, that is, the home page, about us page, product pages and contact us pages. Where this type of website is important factor in any online strategy, it should only make up one part of an overall web design strategy.
Traffic…
One of the best methods of driving traffic to a website is with Pay Per Click Advertising, where you bid on individual keywords and direct where those visitors go on your site. Herein lies the problem…
Let’s say you’re an online hardware store that sells a range of different products, including hammers, saws, power tools and axes… and you have a website where people can buy them from. You pay for targeted keywords, such as ‘buy hammer’ and ‘buy power tools’ and send all the traffic to the home page of your website.
How To Write Killer Website Copy
I always get the same question when it comes to website design…
“Is website copy really that important?”
Well, if you’re interested in actually making a profit from anything you do online, it’s CRITICAL that you have killer website copy!
Now I know what you’re probably thinking…
What is killer website copy?
Writing killer website copy simply means using words on your website that are SO GOOD that anyone who is interested in what you are selling is COMPELLED to do business with you… right now!
The best way to write copy for your website is to imagine you are right there with your prospect selling him / her on the benefits of doing business with your company over all others.
Here’s a quick exercise…
Imagine you have a ‘hot’ lead that is ready to buy and is enquiring about what you are selling…
How To Design A Profitable Website
If you’re thinking about building a website for your business I hope you follow the suggestions outlined in the report on ‘designing an effective website’. And if you already have a website, I urge you to make the suggested changes to your site and let the results speak for themselves.
Identifying the Primary Objective you want your website to achieve is critical for online marketing success…
… for some businesses that may be building a database, for others it might be selling products and for others it may be generating sales leads for a business.
You must identify the primary objective for your website BEFORE you begin building the actual site. And the primary objective must be reinforced throughout your website for the best results.
Think of your website like a team of people working together… the team will produce much better results working towards a single goal, rather than each team member doing their own separate thing.
