In an earlier article we stated that the most important visitors to a web site are people and search engines. Which one is more important does not matter, suffice to say both are important and both are essential for a web site to thrive and prosper.
In the former article, seven essential aspects of web site optimization for search engines were discussed. While we have addressed the topic of web site optimization in two parts, one part for search engines the other part for people, during the optimization process they must both be taken into account at the same time.
This is on account of the fact that web site optimization for the search engines often conflicts with the web site optimization requirements for people. This is a frequent dilemma that requires compromise in favour of one or the other.
In this article we take web site optimization one stage further and look at how web page optimisation can influence the behaviour and perceptions of people visiting a web site.
But first, have you done any web site optimization or web page optimisation for people visitors ?
If you have:
Do you know which of your web page optimisation measures produced results ?
I would take a guess and say you would say “NO” to at least one if not both these questions. Being able to objectively evaluate your own website is also likely to be difficult, the more so if you did the design.
What is of significant benefit is the experienced eye of another designer to uncover or confirm areas of the design that would benefit from improvements. If you would like your web site to undergo this type of analysis then we offer a number of different FREE web page optimization evaluations.
Establishing the effectiveness of any web page optimisation can only really be done through visitor tracking and measuring definable visitor actions, combined with A/B split-testing or Multivariate split-testing.
When completing an assessment we suggest the emphasis be on seven factors that affect people visitors the most when viewing a web page.
There are many behavioural influencers but the most important ones are listed below:-
Visual Appearance
Complementary colors should be chosen for the site so as to match the theme of the site with text of a color and size that makes it easy to read for people of all ages. Images, graphics and backgrounds should not be overly distracting, complement the rest of the page and impart an impression or additional information. Avoid using images that do not contribute to conveying the message or perception you want to create in the visitors mind.
Visitor Impression
The page should impart a clear impression that you want to create or the main message you want to give the visitor all within 3 to 5 seconds of them landing on the page. Visitors expect to get a quick impression of what your web page is offering. If people can’t quickly grasp the essence of what you are offering they will not stick around.
Transparency and Offer Value
Information about the product or service being offered must be clearly apparent to the visitor. Uncertainty regarding what’s being offered leads to confusion and visitor loss. The value of your proposition or offer needs to be clear. The page needs to answer the questions why should they accept what you say or buy from you rather than someone else and what’s in it for them.
Easy Flow
The page should be clearly laid out in a single column avoiding two or three column layouts. Studies show that multi-column layouts distract visitors and cause them to deviate from what should be an easy flowing path down the page. Other studies show that important information or perception creating images should be placed below the header, in the page center and in the top left corner of the main body of the page. Using information from these behavioural studies a page layout can be made easier for a visitor to follow and determine what the page has to offer.
Page Navigation
Navigation of the page should be easy to use, links in the page should look like links – blue underlined and it should be clear what they are leading to. Make use of image alt tags and link tags as an aid to the visitors understanding of where links are going. 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.
Web 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, as both usually have different requirements. Site wide links should be consistent in appearance and location. The only exception to this is normally the home page. 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. The anxiety and friction caused by a site’s order and fulfilment process is a significant factor in lost sales and site abandonment.
Common failings are:
- Requesting information too soon
- Insufficient reassurance of the customer during the process
- A failure to reaffirm the value of the offer during the process
- Customer reassurance builders not positioned within their eye path
- Insufficient use of trust builders
- Requesting unnecessary personal details
- Insufficient use of confidence boosting measures
If you have a fulfilment or order process with more than 3 steps you should look closely to see what can be done to shorten the process.
Download Speed
Since the coming of the age of broadband Internet, many web site designers have abandoned mainly text web page designs and replaced them with web designs high in graphics, flash images and movies. Some of today’s web pages are so heavily laden with images that even for visitors with a broadband connection they are slow to access with a normal browser.
The consequence of this is that for 30-40% of Internet users without high-speed broadband such web sites are completely inaccessible or are so slow they give up.
What makes the problem far worse is that many image laden web pages are not effectively optimized. This means the images and movies in the design are not optimized for quality while maintaining the smallest downloadable file size. In our experience across 100’s of sites savings of 50% or more in the download size of images are common and achievable through better optimization.
We provide web design and website optimization services that enable site owners to improve functionality and increase profitability of their web sites. We also offer website optimization services to web site owners looking to increase search engine rankings, sales, or subscriber opt-ins.
Most of our website 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 offer free consultations and a range of FREE website optimization services evaluations and web site reports. Visit us for one of our FREE website optimization reports or a consultation on your web site.
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