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Imagine spinning someone
around so profoundly and for so long that when you finally
tell them to open their eyes, they ask "Where am
I?" not knowing if they are even on the same
continent they started from. When someone comes to your
web site from a search engine or through a link from
another site, it's like that for them. They may have
little or no context within which to understand your home
page - or another page deep within your site that they've
landed on.
By imagining and
engineering your site for that profoundly disoriented
visitor, you can add subtle clues and explicit messages to
your site that orient the person arriving at your site
from who knows where. You can do this without
"dumbing down" your presentation in any way,
turning confused visitors into converted ones.
For instance, while judging
sites for the Webby Awards, I've sometimes found myself at
a home page about a city that appears justifiably proud of
itself for all that it's achieved, yet I haven't a clue
what state or province or even what country that city is
located in. It's easier to appreciate what you're reading
if you know that Kamloops is in British Columbia, Canada
and not in Scotland or New Zealand.
Likewise, when people are
searching for a service provider and you do what you do
only in a specific geographical area, say so right on your
home page. For instance, if you provide emergency on-site
technical support throughout Southern Vermont, say so.
You'll have fewer potential clients clicking away in
confusion and have fewer inappropriate phone or email
inquiries to deal with.
Sometimes the missing
orientation pertains to your profession rather than
geography. For instance, I was once sent to look at a site
on "Japanese candlestick trading" and found
myself completely mystified. After reading a few
paragraphs, I gathered that this had something to do with
investing in the stock market, but even after I'd read the
whole page I didn't know what it had to do with Japan or
with candlesticks. How much nicer to include a sentence
like this not far into the home page: "Since its
origin in 14th century Japan, this method of stock trading
according to candlestick-shaped patterns of price shifts
on a graph has..."
Another time I evaluated a
site for a firm that did "information
protection" and "intellectual asset
management." Even after reading the entire site, I
wasn't sure what kinds of information or intellectual
assets the firm protected and managed. I checked with the
head of the firm, and my top two guesses were wrong. In
fact, the firm helps companies protect trade secrets,
confidential company information and intellectual property
from theft or inadvertent exposure. Again, be specific and
clear so that you let first-time visitors understand
whether you offer the expertise or product line that
they're looking for.
These three site components
help you provide clues to first- time visitors to your
site: the page title - the text that appears in the top
left corner of the browser; the site's name and tag line,
which normally appear as unifying elements on every page;
and the wording or text that appears on the home page or
other page. Explicitly or through the accumulation of
strong clues, make sure that someone coming to your site
without any advance warning of what you do will feel
oriented within their first 20 or 30 seconds.
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About
The Author
Marcia
Yudkin
is the author of Web Site Marketing
Makeover and 10 other books. A four-time
Webby Awards judge and internationally
famous marketing consultant, she critiques
web sites and performs web site makeovers
for clients. Learn more about her detailed
critique sessions on five different kinds
of web sites at http://www.yudkin.com/websitequiz.htm. |
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