MYTH #1. Web visitors take time to see what your website has to offer.
TRUTH: Web visitors are impatience and have tunnel vision. If the
answer to their problem is not immediately apparent, they
will simply give up, or look elsewhere.
When visitors 1st land on your web page, their eyes move at amazing
speeds
all over the place. So although they may have looked at something on the page, they may NOT have taken it in.
They have a specific
task in mind, so they look for the quickest way to complete it.
We often refer to the 3 click rule (people are only willing to click up to 3 links in a website). However, people are willing to click much more as long as they feel they are making progress towards their goal.
They don't like to feel lost.
They simply don't notice things on the screen
unless it's where they expected it to be. If a link is not
placed where they expect to see it, they will get
stuck.
If it's unclear what to do next, they will go elsewhere.
MYTH #2. Web visitors like flashy animation and video.
TRUTH: People are active online not passive. They almost never look at anything that
looks like an
advertisement, whether or not it's actually an ad.
TV is a medium for relaxation,
where the "user" sits back and becomes immersed in the program. They watch the ads and take a passive role.
In
contrast, computer users sit forward and drive their own
experience through a continuous set of choices. They are easily distracted, so long animation or video feels boring with no
choices and no user control. They also avoid gazing on any area that looks like
an advert - we call this banner blindness.
MYTH #3. Auto-play website audio will help me sell my products.
TRUTH: Sound that turns on automatically is one of the most annoying aspects of a website.
Know your audience. Most web visitors immediately hit the back
button when they come to a site with auto-play sound. The ones that stick around to find the stop / off button will only allow a brief second to find the control. If they cannot
turn off the sound fast, they will never return to the website.
Conclusion
1. Make sure your call to action is VERY clear, and ensure using your website is intuitive.
2. Using animation, video and sound is great so long as you follow the basic rules. Keep it short, allow the user control, ensure it doesn't dominate the content.
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