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Deisgning with Sales in Mind
(Article Contributed By Dino - Posted on June 18th, 2009)
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I saw an interesting question posted on one of the boards last night. It got me thinking about the implications of science in any kind of paysite design. We’re not talking about physics here, but a solid basis for a marketing and design strategy based on scientific fact.
One example I can think of is the use of yellow in important, eye-catching text. Yellow is the first color that the human eye and brain processes so it’s useful to make a piece of text jump out, or call attention to something with a yellow arrow. Consequently, purple is the hardest and last color that the eye and brain sort out so using this (especially as a background) is a big mistake. Even text using purple will largely be ignored.
Strange how so many webmasters and designers still like to use purple though, isn’t it?
Another thing to think about when it comes to color on a tour or gallery is the overall color scheme. Red is a color for danger and also, if used within a financial sense, indicates some kind of loss to the majority of people reading it (subconsciously of course). If you were to use some kind of red background, text or such on a site that is trying to get people to spend money, would that really be wise? On a tour page it’s probably not a bad thing (especially for some extreme niches – you want to highlight the “danger” of the content), but having red links and text on a join page (which is only about the surfer giving you money) is not going to do you any favors.
Blues, teals and greens are safer in most people’s “eyes”. They signify and create a physiological reaction of security, professionalism, reliability and technology. Ever noticed how most hi-tech sites are designed around a blue/gray/teal theme? Blue can also help you with your clicks – most people who’ve been on the net automatically assume a section of blue text is a link (from the default web settings before CSS) – using blue text in a design can heighten the compulsion to click on it, simply out of habit.
Shape can also play a very large component in web design and the reaction a surfer has. Here’s something that was pointed out to me a while ago and it still amazes me I missed it for all these years. Go take a quick look at fedex.com and take special notice of their logo. Look at the white space between the “e” and the “x” – see the arrow?
Looking back on my visits to that site for various shipping stuff, I can distinctly remember clicking on that spot on the logo for no reason at all, or so I thought. Someone pointed it out to me and the penny dropped – shape can make a surfer click and do things we want them to do without really even knowing it.
Arrows can also be seen as a highlight or a call to action as well as pointing at something. You eye naturally follows an arrow to its point so place something that can be clicked there rather than static text or images. Even if it’s not obvious that you can click it, make sure there’s something there as an image map or a simple linked slice of your design just in case.
One small physical reality that many designers and webmasters miss is the fact that a lot of people still run in 800 x 600 – the number is dropping steadily as 1024x768 takes over, but whenever you’re designing a site or a tour, keep in mind that people hate to scroll sideways! A vertical scroll is okay as long as you have a very prominent link to the join page or the sponsor within the 800x600 frame, but make sure you can fit the entire design into a 800x600 browser without a horizontal scroll bar.
I’ve talked before about how people read a webpage – generally a surfer will scan the page from the top/middle to the top left then scan down to the bottom of the window before scrolling to the limit of the page. On the way back up he/she will scan the right-hand side more often than not until they’re back at the topmost margin.
Using this to your advantage takes a little planning in your design. A typical western reader will read from left to right, top to bottom. When faced with anything remotely like an advert, the pattern changes. Scanning becomes much more common rather than straight-out reading so keep your text short, sweet and to the point.
Combining all these simple tips might not guarantee you excellent conversion ratios, but try them and see what works for you. Experimentation is the key.
Till tomorrow, pimps!
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