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Article Title: How To Manipulate Website Visitors
Author: Jerry Bader
Word Count: 2070
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Everyone Has An Agenda
When we watch our favorite television programs like 'CSI' or
'House', we knowingly and even gladly allow ourselves to be
manipulated. When we watch the evening news we are also being
manipulated, knowingly or not, by the selection and
presentation of stories that have been filtered through a
series of network agendas ranging from the benign time
constraints of a thirty-minute broadcast to the more suspicious
dictates of network and sponsor interests.
Websites are vehicles for communicating content to an audience
as well, and like your favorite television show, or evening
news, that communication is not neutral; it comes with an
agenda and that agenda should be yours.
If your website designer is not developing your site within a
framework created to communicate your marketing information,
then you are not getting the website you need. If your website
designer is merely a technical programmer and not a
communicator then you have picked the wrong supplier.
Whether you are selling an idea, a product, or a service
doesn't matter; what matters is you are trying to convince your
audience that what you have to offer will benefit them in some
way. You are manipulating your presentation to your advantage.
That does not mean that you should be dishonest or deceitful,
but rather just skilled in getting your message across.
To manipulate, as defined, in part by wordreference.
to 'control or influence skillfully, usually to one's
advantage'. Like it or not that's the job of a professional
website designer: to skillfully influence an audience to the
website owner's advantage.
Defining An Appropriate Website Agenda
In order for your website to be an affective marketing
communication vehicle it should be build around an agenda that
accomplishes the following tasks:
1. Attract interest
2. Focus attention
3. Convey attitude
4. Enhance understanding
5. Generate confidence
6. Stimulate desire
7. Motivate action
Attract Interest
If you check your website logs and find that people are leaving
your site as fast as they are arriving, then you have an
problem. All that time and effort you spent on optimizing your
site for the search engines to attract visitors is wasted if
those visitors don't stay long enough to get your marketing
message. Visitors will leave your site within seconds if your
splash page is confusing or irrelevant to their needs. Your
initial contact with your audience must capture their attention
by quickly establishing that you are the source of the
information, products, or services they are looking for.
Focus Attention
Once you've established that your site has the information your
audience wants, you must make it easy for people to find it.
Information, products, and services must be organized for quick
access and easy navigation between options and alternatives.
Visitors are focused on finding what they came for; once they
have found it, they will be more receptive to paying attention
to the items that you want to direct them to; this is what
Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering calls the 'seducible
moment', the moment when visitors are ready to focus on your
pitch.
Enhance Understanding
Rather than designing the presentation of your information for
search engine robots, design it for human understanding. People
absorb more information; have better comprehension; and retain
more of what you want them to when information is presented by
a real person.
If you want to see the future of the Web visit Wyeth's
menopause related website at http://www.knowmeno
site provides visitors with the option of going to a text-based
version that is index-able by search engines and where visitors
can print-out the material; and a multimedia version that
features video presentations by doctors discussing the medical
issues, and interviews with ordinary women discussing their
personal experiences.
Generate Confidence
Since the Web is a remote environment, it is important to
create confidence in your company and the products and services
you provide. The easiest thing you can do to create this
confidence is to provide visitors with not just email addresses
but phone numbers, physical locations, and contact names. It
never fails to amaze me how many websites fail to provide this
kind of information. If you don't provide proper contact
information, it looks like you have something to hide.
As mentioned in 'enhancing understanding'
with people is critical in building confidence. The Wyeth
knowmenopause.
video advice from qualified professionals as well as video
commentary from average people relating their personal
experience with the subject matter. And you don't have to be a
multinational pharmaceutical company to do this. Every business
has access to expertise and knowledge. If you stop pitching and
start informing, you may find you're further ahead.
Convey Attitude
Every business has a personality that is conveyed to clients
through their experiences with that company. If you are relying
on your website as your main point of customer and prospect
interaction, then your website has to present an attitude that
is appropriate for your audience. This attitude can be conveyed
through the graphics, copy, and multimedia presentation of the
information, products and services you provide. When it comes
to 'attitude' the medium is very much the message and since the
Web is such a impersonal environment, it is important to design
your presentation so that it delivers the attitude and
personality that your audience will relate to.
Stimulate Desire
The desire to buy a particular product or service is based on
more than functional utility; after all, nobody really needs a
Rolex or a Lexus. People buy much of what they buy based on
emotional and psychological desire rather than functional need.
Functionality often comes into play merely as a justification
for the purchase. Part of your website's job is to create the
emotional and psychological desire for the product in question.
Motivate Action
Your website should also be designed to motivate people to
action but don't construct your site to limit that action to a
sale or nothing. Too many sites are obviously designed to get
you to buy something with little or no attention to enhancing
understanding or generating confidence. This 'all or nothing'
approach is severely anti-productive and conveys an impression
that you can't be trusted. Customers need to have confidence in
you and your offering and sometimes they need some reassurance
that you are legitimate.
What you want to do is get website visitors to do something,
anything that demonstrates some interest. That demonstration of
interest could be a phone call to ask a question, signing up for
an e-newsletter, requesting a catalog, responding to a survey,
poll, or promotion - anything that displays they have some
interest in what you are offering. If you can motivate your
audience to action, even if that action is not directly sales
related, you are on your way to building a relationship with
that prospect.
Communication: Turning Content Into a Memorable Experience
In order to achieve your marketing goals you need to know how
to manipulate, or if you prefer, 'seduce' your audience to your
advantage using the seven tools of website persuasion.
Position
Web-pages are usually made-up of similar types of information.
Standard page elements include:
i. Header information - such as logo, company name, address,
and basic contact information;
ii. Navigation elements - so visitors can find what they need;
iii. Content - such as text, graphics, audio, and video;
iv. Sidebar information - that might include additional
information or links that relate to the content or
advertisements, and;
v. Footer information - that might contain further contact or
copyright information.
The positioning of these elements is critical to the
comprehension and retention of your information and marketing
message. Various usability studies carried out in the USA and
Great Britain have tracked the eye movement of website
visitors. These studies help the designer place the various
page layout elements on the screen to produce the maximum
effect.
Most studies are fairly consistent with their eye movement
tracking results:
i. Middle-Center: Visitors first focus on the center of the
page searching for content that is anticipated;
ii. Top-Left: Eyes then move to the top left corner where a
logo or company name is expected;
iii. Down Left-hand side: Eyes then move down the left-hand
side of the screen where navigation is commonly placed;
iv. Top-Middle to Right: Eyes then move back to the top of the
screen and move from the center to the right scanning for
further navigation elements or additional company
identification information;
v. Middle-Center: Eyes then move back to the middle of the
screen scanning for relevant content;
vi. Right-hand side: Eyes then move to the right side of the
screen looking for additional information or sidebars;
vii. Middle-Center to bottom: Finally eyes go back to the
center and down the page towards the footer scanning for
additional content.
It should be noted that these studies also suggest that website
visitors will quickly determine where any advertisements are
located and then proceed to ignore or avoid them when moving on
to other pages of that website.
Size
The size of the various elements will obviously draw attention
to, or away from particular information. Logos, graphics,
headers, and body-text should all be balanced and
proportionate, and the use and amount of white space is as
important to readability and comprehension as any of the other
elements.
Color
The use of color is another obvious feature that draws
attention to particular information; color also conveys
personality, mood, and image. Blue, silver, and green are
calming colors that convey a cool if somewhat remote image.
Reds tend to convey a sense of excitement and boldness, while
yellows are bright and friendly. Browns and beiges are earthy,
warm and rich, while black, white and gray convey a sense of
sophistication.
Of course these are all generalizations and colors can be mixed
and matched to provide a variety of moods and personalities.
What's important is that a color palette is chosen with care,
not only to convey personality but also to direct and focus
attention on particular key elements.
Shape
The shape of elements is another way to draw attention to
particular information or content. Traditional computer
monitors with their 4:3 ratio and the new more extreme 16:9
ratio monitors create particular challenges when trying to
present substantial information above the virtual fold, by that
we mean the visible area that does not require scrolling.
Sometimes vertical scrolling can't be avoided, but if you have
a lot to say, think about adding an audio or video option that
only requires the click of a button to present your information
with no scrolling required.
Sound
Web-audio is the most cost-effective multimedia-format for
delivering large amounts of complex information or instructions
to website visitors. Web-audio not only delivers the information
in a meaningful, compelling, entertaining, and memorable way,
but it also helps establish a corporate personality and image.
Movement
Movement will also help attract and direct attention to certain
aspects of your website. By far the best way to incorporate some
action on your site is with Web-video that uses a Web-host to
present information or direct visitors to where they want to
go.
Style
The visual style of your site not only directs attention and
focus but it also helps establish your personality and how it
relates to your target audience. Styles range from conservative
to funky to downright bizarre but what really matters is the
style you choose tells visitors who you are and what you're all
about. Your website style will help create the attitude aspect
of your website presentation.
Conclusion
Designing a website is more than programming and search engine
optimization; it is how you communicate to your future
customers - a job that is too important to leave to someone who
doesn't understand how to use the Web and it's full arsenal of
presentation elements to communicate your marketing message.
About The Author: Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia,
a website design firm that specializes in delivering their
clients' marketing messages using the latest audio, video, and
Flash presentation techniques to create compelling and
memorable Web-experiences that enhance brand personality and
increase sales and profits. Visit http://www.mrpwebme
http://www.136words
Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.
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http://www.isnare.
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