WEB MEDIA SCHOOL 80-
You have only a few precious seconds to convince visitors to stay on your site. This is the ultimate challenge that all webmasters and designers face.
You must communicate instantly with a new visitor- let them know what they can get from your site and why they should stay. What can you do to captivate their attention? How do you hold their interest without flashy graphics and animation that slow down your site?
One of the best ways to draw visitors into your site and to communicate a clear message about what your site has to offer is to feature a poll on your home page. A remotely- hosted poll won't slow your site down like flashy graphics and animation, but still gives your visitors the visual interaction they crave.
Another way to let visitors know what to expect from your site is by hosting a discussion on a topic of interest related to your core product or service. For example, HockeyRefs.com uses a message board to allow visitors the opportunity to "Interact with Hockey Refs". Visitors can ask questions, make comments and find answers about the rules and regulations of ice hockey. By offering their visitors genuine interaction with Professional Hockey Refs, HockeyRefs.com has clearly communicated their core offering and has given visitors an immediate reason to get involved.
Writing to be Read&emdash;Writing for the Web
Most Web users don't read-at least in depth. There are probably many reasons for this, including the following:
* Reading from the screen is tiring on your eyes, and the screen decreases your reading rate by about 25 percent.
* The Web is an interactive medium where users feel like they should be moving around and clicking on things. If they stay too long on one page they feel unproductive.
* There's lots of competition out there, each page fighting for the attention of the reader.
* People are simply in a hurry and don't want to work hard searching for information.
As a result, the writing you do for your site should reflect the fact that most of your visitors won't be reading your site -they'll be skimming it.
A key consideration then, as you build your Web site is who will write the copy? Why is this so important?
You need to understand what it is you are writing for. Newspapers are loaded with content, which they want you to read. They make it easy by putting the text in narrow columns so you do not really have to "read" the text, but you can easily scan it. Magazines are loaded with content that no one reads. Magazines are designed to sell advertising. In any worthwhile magazine article there are headings, bullets and other tricks to allow you to scan and then read what you selectively want to read. Brochures are designed to tantalize the reader with a little bit of information and draw your eye to the Call To Action.
In this myriad of mediums where is a Web site? Actually, in the middle. The one difference is that a Web site has click links to go to another page rather than having to turn a piece of paper. You need to realize why this is important. Before you start pouring out a stream of consciousness, think through what you are trying to accomplish.
If you are writing an article or a white paper that will be displayed on the Web site then that amount of text is okay. But beyond the general pages that describe "About Us" and "Who We Are" and some general fluff, follow these Web site guidelines:
* Write to be entertaining. If you do, then people will read what you write. If you are boring then all it takes is one click and they are off your site.
* Be brief. Get your main message out in the first paragraph. Elaborate later. Do not put more text on a page than one, or at most two, vertical scroll clicks. It is okay to continue on another page but because the Web is mostly entertainment, people would rather click to a new page than scroll to eternity. You can accomplish this by putting the first paragraph on the main page and use a "Next" or "Click here to read more" to take them to another page that contains all the text.
* Be informative. Directly address a problem that your customer base might be having and how your product or service can solve that problem. Use examples and make an effort to use testimonials. Put the testimonials right up front but allow people to click to examples. Keep your testimonials short. Remember, no one reads the testimonial itself, only the person or company whose name it at the end. This is the validation.
* Sell! If you are selling a service or a product, sell it! Some analysts will say people do not want to be sold on the Internet, but that is bunk. What they want is to be sold at their own pace rather than by a fast-talking commissioned sales person. So sell!
And, by the way . . .
* Don't forget the call to action. What do you want people to do? Give them as many options as possible to contact you or place an order and pay for it. Provide incentives and create a sense of urgency.
I have used some of the following methods:
* On the contact page there should be a telephone number, fax number, email link and a fill-in form. If you use a form, be sure to ask the questions that will collect enough data for you to communicate intelligently with them. Then give them an option to be contacted by phone or email.
* If you have a form that you want people to fill out, give them the option of downloading a PDF version they can print and mail to you. This is very helpful if you do not provide a secure server site for credit card payments.
* On a site where I put a course registration form, we provided several payment options once they register. We allow them to enter their credit card information in the registration email form, send a check, or have someone call them for the payment information.
According to a recent study by Nielsen/NetRatings, home broadband usage leapt 143 percent between December 1999 and December 2000 to reach 11.7 million homes. Twelve percent of households with Internet access now have broadband. Homes with broadband connections view more pages, see more sites and spend significantly more money online.
By the year 2003, according to a report by eMarketer, Inc., 40 percent of Internet users will be surfing with broadband connections.
Failing to grow your technology to meet customer needs- as well as your own-- can put your at a competitive disadvantage and decrease your productivity.
If your technical infrastructure is weak, everything becomes more difficult.
Is making the move to broadband a necessity or a luxury? If your small business hasn't made the move to broadband, there are a number of reasons why you should be making the switch.
Time Savings
How much time in your day do you spend waiting for a Web site to load? Downloading email with attachments? It's valuable time wasted. You might as well be stuck commuting to work.
Broadband allows you to transmit large files in a matter of minutes. Your computers and your staff are then free to continue working on other tasks.
Speed and Efficiency
With a broadband connection, surfing the Web for information and downloading software is faster and easier. Moving to broadband is also a must if you want to upgrade your business' capacity to include running your own Web server.
You'll enjoy a dedicated connection that is continuously on to receive and transmit in real time-no more waiting for dial ups.
Often home-based freelancers depend on efficiency in conducting research, verifying facts, and corresponding with client via the Internet. Their success is dependent upon getting online easily and quickly. With deadlines for comments and feedback, prompt reply becomes critical.
A Constant Connection
Working at home has become as easy as working in the office because consumers have almost the same quality of connections now. For remote office access, broadband gives faster access to applications running on the company LAN.
With broadband you don't have to wait for a modem to dial-in to establish an Internet connection. If you're looking to expand your business to the Internet, broadband gives you the speedy, two-way presence you need for e-commerce transactions.
An Inexpensive Alternative
Broadband delivers the same power to small businesses as other traditional high-speed connections at just a fraction of the cost. For example, a T1 connection can cost up to $2000 a month compared to $50-$100 a month average for broadband.
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