Have you ever read about
META Tags,
TITLE Tags,
DESCRIPTIONS, etc. in
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) guidelines?
Most of them are very vague and don't give you any examples. Even worse are most of the free and even paid so-called
Meta Tag Optimizers.
Stay away from them! They will cause more damage than good. They usually don't provide more functionality than your text editor. Really! Some services will simply email you back the document that you have completed by yourself in their Web form. What a waste of time. Here is the deal:
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Before users click through to your site, they usually see some sort of Micro-Content about your Site. That Micro-Content is contained in your
- Link texts,
- URIs,
- meta description text,
- headings,
- text set bold or strong,
- and eventually your first paragraph of the page
Remember
Jakob Nielsen's Law of the Web User Experience,
www.UseIT.com (↑):
“Users spend most of their time on other sites, so that's where they form their expectations for how the Web works.”
If your Micro-Content is not compelling enough for people to click through, that's all they ever will see from your site.
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Content is what Web pages are about. It may be text, images, audio, video, or most likely a mix of it. This is the real asset, which makes people come to your site. The higher the quality, the more people will visit, link to you, visit again, and get involved with you. Your products and services have to be well bedded in good quality content. Let us call this
Macro-Content —We will need this definition in a future blog post.
“Give people what they want, and you will get what you want in return.”
This works for thousands of years. It is the basics of trading.
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You have
only split seconds to catch the interest of your reader on the Web. It is too easy for them to click away from you.
For long time Journalists are writing for newspapers in a way that is very well suited for the Web. Give the reader what interests them most.
“‘Why should I care?’, might be the question in the visitor's head. You need to present them the answers right away!”
It is called
“inverted pyramids” writing style.
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In Part 1 of this posting we have focused on Usability aspects. Let's continue.
Persuasive Design
A more than — just the technical facts — product description with detailed photos, audio, and video showing how the user will benefit from taking action seems to be state of the art. Also show the user the benefit on the emotional level.
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One key element for success in online business is the conversion rate as we all know. The percentage of users who visit your Web site
and take action, like buying your product, opt-in to your newsletter, request more information, etc. Let me describe, how you can improve your Web site for higher conversion rates.
People are coming to your site, because they have a certain need or a problem that needs to be addressed. If this person that just arrived at your site is a match for your business, things may work out for you. The person got the problem solved and you got a prospect on your email list or even a customer right away. This would be the ideal case, of course. But not every visitor takes action right away.
You have to help him, earn his trust, guide him, and — why not — persuade him to take the action that YOU want him to take.
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