In my previous article "Five questions every web user asks of a website" I described the elements of a webpage people want answered. We mentioned that most visitors are only willing to spend five seconds of their time to answer those five questions. So what are the applications to how we build a website to answer those questions as fast as possible? We will primarily focus on your homepage. Let's take each question at a time.
- Who is the host of the site?
- What kind of services do they offer?
- Where/to what extent do they offer services.
- Are their services credible?
- How do their services apply to me?
The conventional way to answer this question for viewers is to place a business or owner name at the very top of the page. This is the first place people's eyes go when they click on a link. It can also be advantageous to present your logo or branding next to your name. Only very well known companies can get by with presenting a logo without their name. Sometimes a name becomes a logo. My suggestion is make your name large, clear, uncluttered, and in text. Some people like to upload pictures with both their logos and their names together. These pictures are useful for printed media. But on the web, computers cannot 'read' the words in the picture. When you put your name in text form, then viewers' bowsers can alway understand the text. Some people don't have conventional settings (screen readers, for example, will read the text on a page to listeners. Others prefer "read only" modes). Keep your name at the forefront or top on every page. Some may navigate to your pages without going through the conventional Home-Page-Subpage pathway. Visitors need to still know who you are whichever page they are on.
Somewhere right at the top you want to have something which tells or shows your audience exactly what you offer. The best way to do this with text is to us a subtitle or tagline. If your business is selling coffee, and your name is "Joe's Joe", then I suggest placing a tagline which spells it out "You bring a friend, we have the coffee." This kind of thing tells your viewers what you can give them. Another, less precise, way to do it is with a picture or logo. If the logo is a cup of coffee, then that usually is good start. You can also feature a picture or banner right under the top of your page of someone being served coffee. Or you can show your own advertisement or discount on daily deals, etc.
So, how long has this taken? Well, only about 1.5 seconds so far, we still have some time to answer the other three questions.
The easiest way to answer the 'where' part is to place your range of service near the top of the page or in your first major text block. Sometimes you can combine this with the tagline. "The best coffee in Lubbock Tx" or "Join our cause in the upper-west USA" or "This is for everyone." Seasoned web surfers have been trained to look for these kinds of phrases. You can highlight your range of service by: writing them in the first sentence on the website. Using bold or italics in the middle of a paragraph. Have a separate call-out box with just the range of services.
The second facet "to what extent" is a deeper question. This, admittedly, will probably take much longer than 5 seconds to answer. But if your audience can see the "where" then they can move on to the extent. One of the best ways to persuade your viewers that you have the right extent of services is through a good menu. Menus are like a table of contents in a book or magazine. When you open a book or magazine you have already read the title and the subtitle: you see the author and the main intent of the work. But now you want to know if the text contains the kinds of details you want. That's where you look at the table of contents. Your webpage Menu can convey both a sense of extent and accessibility. If you have too many items on the menu, then most viewers won't bother to read through it all. They will likely miss the info they are looking for. If your menu is too generic then people won't expect your site to have the details they want. The process of pairing down the main front-page menu is a tricky art. My suggestion is: limit it to five words, make those words categorical of the items on your site ("Shop" "Blog" "Contact") . Within this skeleton you can have sub-items. Limit your subitems as well. So under "Shop" have "Over-seas Roasts", "Our Blends", and "Dine-in Specials". I do not suggest sub-sub menu items. If you want people to find those pages, then make a new menu on it's parent page.
Okay, so here is where we get to the real art. Much of the above information is the most important information by sequence. However, it might not actually be the first thing viewers notice. We might pride ourselves that we have moved past judging by appearance. But we will always be evaluating things based on our expectations of what we think it should look like. Web surfers are going to base the majority of their initial (note: just the initial) trust in the design and look of the website. A "good" looking website will always fair better than an "outdated" website, even if the older one has better offerings and better history. This initial obstacle can be overcome with time and research. But most viewers are basing their judgement on the initial five seconds.
So what does a "good" website look like? That is constantly in flux, and driven by personal opinion. But the easiest way to evaluate is: conventions. Consumers train themselves (or are trained?) to view certain services as having certain "looks." This can include color matching, straight or curved box edges, tall pages verses wide, number of columns of text on the page, size of pictures, placement of advertisements, etc. The world-wide-web is constantly in creative motion. Expectations change rapidly. But, in generic terms, we can all tell the difference between a site that was updated yesterday and one that hasn't been touched in 15 years. That means credibility. The one who is most recently updated is a content creator, is currently staying up to date with modern issues, is aware of how their services apply to today. The company with the 15 year old site might not even be in business anymore. It will take more work to find out. This is when most first-time visitors leave.
Okay, we are right at that 5-10 second mark. Obviously details are going to take time to absorb. But my suggestions are all about clean-ness, specificity, and keeping things top and center. Now comes the more nebulous question:
At the start, we must recognize that not all services will apply to everybody. So there are two approaches. First, to make sure not to lose your potential customers/readers that would benefit from your services/message. Second, to convince the viewers who are on the fence to look deeper into your project. Those who wish to interact with you need an easy way to do so. Have you ever been on a site for several minutes trying to find a way to actually call, buy, request something, or ask a question? It shouldn't take that long. Each page which describes services you offer should have a way to request those services. A number, an email, a chat, a facebook message: anything. It's allowed to be at the very bottom or at the very top. The accessability of contact needs to correlate to the advertisement of services.
Now for the group you are trying to tip your way: to make your service applicable to them, try engaging them with four things. One option is to suggest how your services make their current projects easier. Tell a quick story. Give a bullet point example. Show a statistic or a pie chart. Show a picture of your expertise making life easier. List a testimonial review or video. The second option is to give them some new ideas of things they can do which benefit both of you. The same methods from above work here too. Option three is to focus on your customer service and expertise. This will make them more comfortable coming back after they've thought about it. It will encourage them to ask questions and make a connection. Finally, suggest ways that your viewers and can make someone else's life easier. If it's a product, suggest it as a gift. If it's a service, present it as a team-building opportunity. If it's a message, focus on the benefits it gives to others who just need to know.
Successful online engagements don't have to end in the original viewers connecting with you. If they tell someone else about your service (in a positive light, of course), then your online communication worked!
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