If you’ve ever arrived on a website that is a mass of boxes, messages and pictures you’ll know what I mean by the patchwork quilt effect! Websites like this have many things to offer the visitor and the website owner is anxious to show all their wares up front. When it comes to usability it scores low.

The problem for most web visitors is that there’s far too much information, there’s often no single place that is dominant and the messages look very ’salesy’ so some visitors can be a bit unnerved and run away to a less pressured environment – the usability factor is too much effort for them, they don’t want to have to bother.

If you have a wide range of products or services it’s tempting to try to present as many as possible up front, but please resist the urge! If your services are vastly different or if you are trying to target two or more very different market sectors, then have different websites for each so you can focus on what that sector or potential customer is looking for. good usability is based on simplicity and clarity.

Put yourself in the user’s shoes (or in front of their screen) – they’ve searched for something and your website has come up as a possible provider of that. They click the link and they get information overload – much of it not what they were looking for anyway, from a usability point of view the user will see your site as very low on the scale. Most of us are lazy and impatient when we’re surfing the net – we want instant gratification and, if it looks like we’re going to have to make an effort – we’ll go somewhere ‘easier’.

So how do you improve your website’s usability?

1. Have a focal point – a headline that’s bigger than anything else that attracts their attention and gives them a place to start.

2. Don’t give them too many choices – it’s much too confusing! It’s easy to choose between 2, harder between 3 and almost impossible when there are 6 or more options.

3. Think about what they’re looking for and make sure that the web copy addresses that and reassures your visitor that they’re in the right place.

4. If you have visual images make sure they work for their place; they must have a clear message, not be just decoration – for example, if you are providing services to the academic sector a picture of students in mortar boards and gowns won’t help you to make your point!

Remember the KISS technique – keep it short and simple – it will make your website usability factor soar, your message clearer, have more impact and get better results!
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Most of us think of our online ‘presence’ as our website, but have you considered all the other places where web copy with your name and brand attached appears?

Your style, professionalism and expertise are all represented in every piece of web copy that you write. How well is your online presence integrated? Think about consistency in both your message and in how you appear.

And, if you’re not taking advantage of all these things – why not?!!
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Having a website is only part of your online presence; and the copy on your website must engage the reader and keep them there – but what other copy should you be thinking about online?

Blogs like this one are another way to engage potential customers, providing the information is not just a sales pitch, but offers real information of value to the reader.

Articles are another way to spread your knowledge and profile across the web and there are many sites where you can post these.

Social media profiles – and the use of them regularly are another way to engage with people and help them to ‘get to know’ you.

Twitter is microblogging – and the most well known of the many sites where you can post. Using this well has been a really successful business tool for many people.

These are all means of getting people to visit your site – and, if you have a tempting offer when they get there, they’ll sign up to your list. Your list is usually willing to receive your newsletter – and will continue to read it if it’s interesting and offers added value they’ll stay signed up. That also means that you can continue to build a relationship on a regular basis with autoresponder messages.

The secret is to get all these working together to really get your online marketing flying in formation.
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Everyone seems to be obsessed with being ‘on the front page’ of Google, getting up the search engine rankings and getting hotshot AdWord specialists to increase the traffic to their website. Of course, getting traffic is important; it doesn’t matter how impressive your site looks if the only people that ever see it are your existing clients and your Auntie Flo!

The issue is that getting traffic is only half the equation – the other half is all about what happens to the ‘traffic’ when it lands on your site!

Keeping people is at least as important as getting them there in the first place. Not least, because search engine optimisation is an expensive art, takes time and effort, not to mention considerable expertise, updated almost daily as the search engines develop and rules change. If you’re investing anything from £50 to £5000 a month to get traffic, it’s money down the drain if people take one look and then hit the ‘back’ button.

So what should you be paying attention to?

1. A headline that reassures people that the site will deliver what they were looking for. If you have a targeted AdWord account, that means a landing page written specifically with each key word or phrase featured.

2. A design that makes reading easy – a clear place to start, no fancy distracting visuals, copy in the place that people naturally read – there’s a lot of ways to get this part wrong (sign up on the right for the Goldfish Report to find out more). If you have many different boxes on the page with a variety of messages you’ll just confuse people.

3. Compelling copy, focused on the reader and what they get if they buy your product or service.

It’s not quite as simple as 123, but if you’re investing in getting people to your site, you also need to invest in keeping them long enough to persuade them to take action. If you’d like to know more just give us a call.
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