Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [98]
Figure 9-3: The structure allows an easy view of the information, provides a focal point, and provides easy access to subcontent.
However, some designs can be much bolder and edgier, especially market leaders, because they can afford to provide a more visual impact; however, in this category, there is still an emphasis on clear content layout. Nimlok (www.nimlok.com) is able to provide a very strong focal point for the layout with a short paragraph of information about the company. The rest of the information is clearly defined categories of services, information, and navigational elements. By taking away some content, there is more visual impact and clear navigation choices (see Figure 9-4).
Figure 9-4: Brand leaders can be bolder in design and function, but they still assist users by providing clear content areas within the structure.
Tuesday: Create Concise and Memorable Content
A Nielsen study of Measuring the Effect of Improved Web Writing was focused on improved usability of content by making it more understandable and memorable. The results of the study are published at www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html.
The study started with a promotional paragraph of tourist attractions in Nebraska. The goal was to find the best rewriting and reformatting of the paragraph to result in better usability and comprehension of the information. Four different versions were created:
The Concise version used about half as many words to communicate the same information.
The Scannable version introduced the content with a few sentences and then utilized bullet points to highlight specific phrases.
The Objective version removed any promotional language.
The final version combined all three to create content that was short, scannable, and objective.
Interestingly, the Concise version performed very well, which supports all the direction I received while studying journalism at college. My journalism professor constantly requested that we write the same content but in half as many words, which is a journalism school mantra. The Concise version improved the usability of the content by 58 percent. None of the other single improvements came close to that level of improvement.
The combined approach of half as many words, a scannable format, and nonpromotional language resulted in a 124 percent improvement in the usability of the website. This relates to the scanning behavior outlined in the previous section. Fewer words, presented in a scannable format, will result in better retention for the visitor.
Nielsen also found that visitors read only the first few words in a paragraph and then move on. This shows the importance of online copywriting, not just for the search engines but for the unfocused, unlinear, and unpredictable visitor to your website. The content needs to be not only scannable but also presentable and arranged in a fashion that allows for a quick assessment of value and relevance. Only then will the visitor slow down to read the information they believe is there through the deduction of content elements presented on the page.
Another study evaluated online behavior and found that online readers will read about 20 percent of the content on an average page (about 600 words). As content is added, only 18 percent will be read. (See Harald Weinreich, Hartmut Obendorf, Eelco Herder, and Matthias Mayer’s “Not Quite the Average: An Empirical Study of Web Use” article in ACM Transactions on the Web, vol. 2, no. 1 [February 2008], at http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1326566.) This creates a very transitory experience among you, your website, and your visitors. In this medium, in-depth content that requires consideration