Archive for June, 2009

Less IS more (400% more)

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Just in case more proof was needed here it is:  keeping the messaging on your site  targeted and focused really works.   We recently completed a site messaging review project with one of our clients -  Prefix IT a provider of  software for remote management of PC’s and other network assets.

We started out speaking with customers to see how they actually use the product and then integrated that feedback into the site content. It’s always a tough call cutting out certain capabilities of the product,  but focusing the message on the key areas, even at the expense of not mentioning all of the rich functionality the product offers, has a real effect.

The messaging review also involves defining a clear call to action for the visitor – in this case getting them to download the demo product. In addition to making this a focus of attention on the site in general, we worked on  ensuring that the path to achieving the call to action is as intuitive and non-threatening as possible. In this case this involved moving from a register form with 7 fields and a two step confirmation process, to a one step, direct sign up and execute approach using only 2 fields (one required the other not).

There is a trade off here – namely: depth  of information about your trial customers. But in most cases, the ability to communicate on an ongoing basis  with your trial customers (what we call multi touch marketing – more about that in a coming post) can be achieved with much less information than you think.  Conversely – with competition in every product space as tough as it is – visitors are not inclined to spend a few minutes sharing their entire CV on a download form – they’ll just move on to the next product. If you’ve got confidence in your product – which you should – let the product speak for itself.

For Prefix the results have been astonishing:   a  consistent increase from 5% to over 20% in conversion of site visitors to download of the trial product within only 2 weeks.

It’s tough to argue with 400% growth so try it out . Or better still (**shameless plug alert**) contact us and let us do it for you.  Either way – always remember that less really is more.

Take a breather and look again

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

come up for air

We’ve just finished working on a couple of  websites for customers, and I wanted to share a tip that has helped us – take a breather and look again. I find the need to step away from reviewing the site and come back to it with fresh eyes. It can be an hour or a few days. It makes a world of difference, and so much more so when we have had the chance to absorb other sites, design, language – we come back with new opinions and ideas to try out.

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Use Their Brain – Website Design

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Brain

When designing a site you need to use your brain – or even better user their brain. That is to say you’ve got to take into account how people interact with your site – on the subconscious level.

In a recent post – Your Brain on a Website – The Psych File interviews Dr. Weinschenk author of Neuro Web Design. It’s a very interesting podcast in general, but one thing worth calling out is Dr. Weinschenk’s discussion addressing your customers three brains – old, middle and new.

Putting this into practice on your site:

  1. Address the old brain, subconscious, through posting customer reviews or testimonials – something everyone instinctively reacts to, and assigns a positive attitude with your site.
  2. Use colors and visual design to stimulate the middle brain into guiding a visitor along.
  3. Once the customer has chosen, using his old and middle brain, you need to give them an excuse to justify to themselves why they chose – this is called confabulation (love that word). Present them with impressive charts, lots of data and comparisons why intellectually they made the right choice. This addresses the new brain.

This is great advice and something we naturally have implemented on our customers sites, but always nice to have the theory to back it up.

(On a side note, Dr. Weinschenk seems to discount some of the theories in Predictably Irrational. I think it’s a great book and I will dedicate a post about Dan Ariely’s book in the future.)