B(abble)log - Archives
Over at When Bad Websites Happen to Good People, today’s tip is all about website speed. In this tip, our 8th, you’ll find some of the usual causes of slow sites, and some suggestions to speed up your site.
But why is speed so critical to website success? Because, according to Forrester Consulting, two seconds is new acceptable norm for online shoppers. Customer expectations can be brutal.
- 47 percent of consumers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less, and,
- 40 percent of consumers would abandon a site if it took more than three seconds to load
While this research is aimed at online shoppers, I would go out on a limb and say the same applies to B2B sites. Let’s face it, humans are an impatient bunch. As everything becomes instant, speed is crucial.
As much as it is up to designers to make sure a website loads quickly, it’s up to online copywriters to ensure content is web-friendly, and equally as important, human-friendly. I’ve discussed some of the differences between writing for the web and writing for print publications previously with suggestions on creating web-friendly text.
However, human-friendly content, or brand voice, is not often discussed in the conversion process. But brand voice plays a big role in instant connection and engagement.
Brand Language Influences Online Behaviour
Earlier this year, CDA (Content Delivery &Analysis) conducted a study to better understand the online linguistic processes and pathways that consumers take when they want to find things online. Among some of the CDA’s key findings:
- Language that people appear to respond to most favourably when they finally engage with a website is language that more closely resembles their natural language of intent – less mechanical and more human.
- Language that engages people on web pages is not the same as the language that forms the pathways to a site.
- There seems to be a direct correlation between what language a website uses and how a visitor feels. In many cases participants are put off by what they find because it is not in line with their previously articulated expectations and / or requirements. The language that brands employ on websites can often be too formal (technical, un-human, productised) – and this can alienate people.
So why does this stifling, consumer-inhibiting business formality exist? I’m not entirely sure, but I think that many companies confuse business jargon with professionalism.
Brand Voice Makes Connections
You only have a few seconds to captivate. A strong human brand voice has a realness and authenticity that shines through and connects with remarkable speed and effectiveness.
Brand voice goes well beyond word choice. It considers intent, framing, syntax – it’s a whole semantics smorgasbord! It takes thoughtful reflection to pin down not only what to say, but how to say it. But the return is incredible, a clear voice that is 100% YOU cuts through the same-old,-same-old of a noisy marketplace.
In a lightning-fast digital world, that’s invaluable.
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Last night, I took some guests to try out a casual restaurant in a nearby town. It had a happening patio and seemed quite popular with the locals, so why not give it a try?
I know restaurants often welcome free placemats with local advertising to cut costs, but honestly, what is going through your head when you put out placemats that advertise a SEPTIC SYSTEM?
The first thing I saw as I sat down to eat were the words “septic”, “solids”, “bacteria”. Bon appétit, folks!
For the love of Pete, people! I don’t care if they were free. It’s not worth it.
Have you seen the new Steam Whistle Brewing television commercial? It premiered last night on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos.
If you aren't familiar with Steam Whistle Brewing, it's a Toronto-based pilsner brewery that
uses traditional brewing techniques and only four natural ingredients
including spring water, malted barley, hops and yeast - all GMO-free.
The beer is brewed in an old warehouse that used to make steam locomotives. Their logo, distinctive green bottles, delivery vehicles and advertising all play off that retro feel. The television commercial is a lovely example of how using sound can underline brand identity and create a memorable 30-second spot. It also ties-in nicely to the Steam Whistle website, which has the same iconic whistle sound.
The ad was created by Toronto agency SharpeBlackmore Euro RSCG.
- This is one of my favourite quotes this week, “Not all marketing stories are literal; be aware of the story told through your site design choices.” Read this outstanding article by David Rossiter that reflects on storytelling, user-friendly design and the social web.
- Finally, Twitter has brought real-time search to us all!!
- Wolfram|Alpha hasn’t yet launched but that hasn’t stopped it from being called a “Google killer” The search engine uses natural language queries and doesn’t just supply results, but rather answers them directly.
- With Swine Flu being the conversation-de-jour. Lifehacker reported on a Google Map mashup to track the disease.
- All you emotive people out there will be glad to know that Gmail has added more emoticons.
- Are you a B2B marketer? Gord Hotchkiss has authored a white paper titled “Mapping the BuyerSphere” in which he examines different buyer roles, the identified risk control mechanisms, and the relative effect of a vendor's credibility and positioning. You can download it here.
- Mitch Joel offers his insights on speaking in a powerful new way as part of Cluetrain Manifesto's 10th anniversary. Read other posts expanding on Cluetrain’s tenets at Cluetrainplus10.
- Online Marketing Blog has some great tips in Public Relations Activities That Affect SEO. As Lee Odden points out “content that can be searched on can be optimized.”
- The always-inspiring Valeria Maltoni has written 5 Marketing Ideas You Can Use Today.
- Is it any surprise that even online men feel the need for speed? Find out more about gender issues in website usability.
Friday Fun
Twitter Magnets – Don’t say I didn’t warn you – it’s addictive!
Kathryn from Zoonini and I would love to thank everyone who has enjoyed and shared our public service announcement Do I Need a Flash Intro? We got over 50,000 unique visitors in 4 days from over 130 countries. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
- One of the biggest stories this week was Dominos. And the above search results are just a small example how not having a social media plan in place can be damaging. After employees behaved very badly indeed, and uploaded their food pranks to YouTube, things went sideways for the pizza chain. USA Today explains some of the lessons to be learned.
- Well, Digg released a URL shortener that failed to impress. (That’s being kind.) Read the Truth About Digg’s DiggBar to get the inside scoop on why it’s just plain evil from an SEO point-of-view. Gene Smith offers up a few alternative options.
- What’s wrong with the phrase “social media”? Josh Bernoff elegantly explains Why 'Social Media' Sucks.
- How the Internet Community Saved Alf – need I say more?
- This is a beautiful post that deserves to be read and read again: 5 Lessons From Regular Architects That Everyone Should Embrace.
- Kelowna’s Orchard Park Shopping Mall hit one out of the park with its “Fresh-er-vention” Facebook contest. I foresee more Facebook Connect campaigns, don't you?
- Truer words were never spoken. Want to get people talking about your company? Create something newsworthy.
- Zen Habits often dishes up some great productivity tips, and I particularly liked this one: Seven Productivity Tips for People That Hate GTD.
- Not to sound all gushy, but Lee Odden is an SEO rock star. He continually puts out Top 10 material. Read his article Improve Public Relations with SEO & Social Media, and discover why keyword research, content optimization and content assets can add value to your website, your end user and your company’s brand.
- Who doesn’t love a makeover? Roberta Rosenberg does a brilliant job of explaining how TheWeddingLens.com could be improved and get a better conversion rate.
Friday Fun
What’s your Twitter zodiac sign?
1.) Well, as everyone knows it was April Fools’ Day this week, and those pranksters at Google were once again in top form. They created CADIE, an artifical intelligence tasked-array system that worked on making the user experience more pleasurable by making web pages like this as well as creating Google Auto Pilot for Gmail. Google also introduced Brain Search. (But, what scares me is I don’t think that’s too farfetched!)
2.) Not to be outdone, the Guardian announced it was switching from print and would be published exclusively through Twitter. Experts say “any story can be told in 140 characters.”
3.) Despite the rather annoying pop-up at SEObook, this interview with Mike Grehan is well worth the read, filled with many, many insights about the future of search. Download the white paper here.
4.) Copyblogger has a piece by Sherice Jacob that provides tips on How the Right Words Help You Sell Better.
5.) Twitter pal Mark Goren has some handy tips on how to filter out some of the noise and allow top content to come to you.
6.) Listen up, because here is some invaluable advice. Don’t miss 8 Great Content Marketing Takeaways from 2009 Custom Content Conference.
7.) That clever and talented social media guy (and fantastic photographer) CC Chapman put out a free white paper called About Face, which provides the inside scoop on Facebook pages.
8.) If you love something, set it free! Maggie Fox from Social Media Group and Scott Monty from Ford put together a compelling Slideshare presentation. It’s definitely got me thinking about how I can create something that people want to share. (Oh, where is that cloning machine??)
9.) Steve Rubel interviews Jeff Jarvis about his new book What Would Google Do?
10.) I missed this really fascinating read from Brainstorm’s Ed Illig a while back, but couldn’t stop thinking about it this week. It’s an amazing story of how a former opera star rebranded himself after vocal chord surgery changed his singing voice. It also touches on how he used the Internet to propel his new career forward.
Friday Fun
All you wordies out there, try the Marketing Profs challenge. Come up with a word that describes “A customer who rants at you without justifiable reason.” At the time of this post, “Frustomer” was leading.
Last week, when I compared visiting a site to having a meal at your favourite restaurant, the irony that most restaurant websites aren’t very good did not elude me.
I’m not quite sure why. Maybe as an industry they aren’t very online savvy and use the same sort of “glossy brochure” offline design thinking? If you’ve got any insights, please share them. (You can also reach me at Twitter.)
There is just missed opportunity after missed opportunity to have a great website. Here’s an example…
Café Santropol is a Montreal sandwich restaurant that is awesome. The food is outstanding, the service is friendly, the shabby chic interior design is quirky and welcoming, and they've been roasting their own fair-trade coffee long before it was ever fashionable to do so. They also donate a percentage of profits to charity and are actively involved in the community. Whatever the polar opposite of “bland coffee & sandwich restaurant" might be, this would be it. And don’t get me started on the cute secret garden - I could wax poetic for days! In short, I’m a huge fan. I’ve taken friends and family alike and everyone falls under its magical spell.
But the website makes me weep.
It is so dreadful, in fact, that it’s practically a tutorial on what not to do. It exemplifies how a poorly conceived and designed website can almost destroy the real-world wonderfulness that is Cafe Santropol. And, they aren’t alone. As I started looking around, it became apparent that criticizing restaurant websites would be like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s far, far too easy.
In the case of my beloved Cafe Santropol, there are a few issues that are not just particular to their site but to many other restaurant sites as well.
Unnecessary Clicks & Choices
When you arrive at the homepage, you are forced to make a choice – do you want to learn more about their coffee, or more about the restaurant? Site visitors shouldn’t have to choose. It would be just as easy to have a coffee section on the Santropol website, so users don’t have to toggle between the two. And, once you do make your choice, you are faced with an empty language selection page; yet another barrier to the stuff you really want to know about – the food, the prices, how to get in touch, etc. (Go ahead, guess how you find the language of your choice! I dare you. Yes, by clicking on the faces peeking out from the curtains! Which segues to…)
Mystery Meat Navigation
When someone had to type “Pull on the ropes” to indicate how you are supposed to navigate around the site, didn’t something click? Didn’t someone think, “Gee, it’s supposed to be apparent how to navigate through a site.”? Why all the theatrical metaphors? I don’t know either.
Help Me Find You
The contact information -physical address only- is below the fold on “splash page #3” While the operating hours and address are appreciated, it is entirely too easy to miss. And there is no separate Contact page. What if I had a question? There isn’t a telephone number or email address that I can readily find. I eventually did find it, but by accident.
Don’t Change the Rules
So, I’ve discovered that I need to pull some ropes to navigate the site. I click on Links to find out more, and –presto-chango– my rope-pulling nav has disappeared. Gone. Poof. Dear freaky ropes, why have you forsaken me?? Instead, I need to use my back button. Or, if I was extremely attentive, I might scroll down and down until I saw a smallish icon of a house. The same thing happens on the About page, but without my newfound friend, the home icon. To boot, it also opens up in a new window.
No New Windows
Many of the top-level navigation items open in new windows. I don’t want a bunch of new tabs opening up as I navigate a single site. All internal links should open in the same window. End of story.
There are also untitled pages, one section suddenly and inexplicably designed in a completely different way that uses frames and on and on and on. It breaks my heart. Why? Because I know what a great place this is.
I know the care and love they put into their food and restaurant. And I’d love to see that translated into the website, with photos of their amazing sandwiches and the cute outdoor terrace. This dark, theatrical website has absolutely no connection to the funky restaurant that Montrealers rave about. In real life, the experience is friendly and cohesive, but online it is a bizarre collection of web pages that don't have a consistent look, feel or navigation. And, unfortunately, the user experience is mind-bogglingly bad.
Do you have a favourite restaurant? A place that makes you feel welcome and happy?
If you've got a website, it's really not at all dissimilar from your favourite bistro. There are visitors, a menu, hopefully your fare is consumed and enjoyed, and if so, a return visit might be in order. If you're lucky, they'll tell their friends about you and you will increase your clientele. But there are a few key steps:
Plan your menu!
You're confident in your abilities - you've got the best barbecue chicken & ribs joint in town. You've got a secret sauce that none of your competitors have. The sky is the limit.
Now it is time to organize your menu for your potential clients. You want people to be able to read it easily, and be able to find what they are looking for. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?
First, you have to understand how your prospective client will interact with your company. Restaurants know that clients come in, they might be interested in an appetizer or a soup before ordering the main course, and that following dinner they might want a dessert. It's no mistake that almost every restaurant menu follows this outline.
So, how will you organize your menu? Organize it in a way that responds to your customer's need. Start thinking about not just what you offer, but in the solutions your customers are looking for. Then design your site structure around that.
Invest in quality ingredients.
What's the one thing above everything else that will get people to go back a second and third time to a restaurant? Good food made with quality ingredients.
Your Web site is no different.
Content is your food. At the very least it needs to be grammatically correct, concise and have a consistent tone. That's your basic burger. Now, if you want the crème de la crème of burgers, you need something extra, something more. You need finesse.
How do you get finesse on a Web site? You get it through quality professional writing. Writing that separates you from your competitors. If you want something that will keep people coming back for more, offer them daily specials, or in Web terms: fresh yummy content. Think about adding news, press releases, updates, white papers, research & trends as a way to get visitors to check back and see what is new. And, guess what, by the time the client has come back a third time, you've got a relationship. What could be better than a regular?
Does the décor match the food?
The menu has been set, you've got your quality ingredients and now it’s time to bring in the designer. Your décor needs to match the offerings.
It makes little sense to have the Atlantic Seafood Extravaganza Bistro decorated with a Tex-Mex motif. And if your company offers professional service, it better not be created by your friend or little cousin Timmy who dabbles in Web design.
Your kitchen - Is it up to code?
As great as it is to have that nice china and quality stemware, it is just as important to have a clean and efficient kitchen.
So, you might be saying to yourself, "All of this sounds very nice, and gee you're stretching this analogy, but restaurant patrons don't go into the kitchen!" No, but the health inspector does. And who is the online equivalent? The search engine crawler.
Just as a health inspector grades a restaurant on the cleanliness of its kitchen, part of the search engine algorithm is based on clean coding. If it isn't up to snuff, your site could be less visible.
Being a person who talks to yourself a lot, you are probably saying, "Oh, I'm not worried, my Web designer will take care of that." If only it were the case. Continuing bravely with our restaurant analogy, many times a Web designer is the equivalent of your interior designer. Would you trust your interior designer to make sure your kitchen is up to code for the Health Department? No, you need a specialist. The same thing follows for your site. Invest in a Web designer or programmer who understands search engine friendly code. It will make the difference between a pass or a fail.
Meet the maitre d'
A good maitre d' greets you, takes your coat and shows you to your seat. It's a wonderful, carefree experience to be welcomed, ushered in and before you know it --poof, there you are!--menu in hand, considering the chef's special.
Your clients don't want to have to think about where to go next. They want to be welcomed, led to their table (your products/services/raison d'être), and given a menu (information about your offerings). Make it as easy as possible.
Your homepage and every product or service page on your site needs its own maitre d'; something that guides the visitor effortlessly to a purchasing decision. In can be as simple as a cheery graphic button that says, "Click here to buy" or "Try our demo", but make it easy to see and easy to use.
Don't make the customers wait
Whether it is at the front door, or during the dining experience, no one likes to wait.
Imagine walking into a restaurant and they forced you to watch a commercial about their food before you were allowed to sit down. Would you leave? More than likely.
Why is it, then, that many Web sites incorporate Flash intros? Please don't make your clients stand around while you try to dazzle them with your company's “site experience.” (Yes, the air quotes are flying.)
Many studies now indicate that site visitors decide in the blink of an eye whether or not a site is useful to them, so never, ever, have a page that sits there with the flashing message "loading…loading…loading."
Ensure that all of your site graphics are optimized for the Web, and that all of your files are quick to load. Respect your customer's time and they will respect you.
Would you like dessert & coffee?
Your meal is finished. You're happy. You're content. Life is good. Then your charming server comes by with the dessert menu, and drops a line about the triple chocolate mousse cake being exceptionally good tonight. Why, maybe, just maybe, there is a little room for triple chocolate mousse cake seeing as it is the house special. Oh, and if you're having dessert, coffee is a no-brainer.
What just happened here?
It's the old cross-sell. Your site needs to do the same. If you sell widgets, make sure your widget page connects to the widget holder page. If you have an e-commerce site with an internal search, make sure that if there are no results for the query "giant green widgets" that there better be an alternative suggestion.
Just a few thoughts...
And, if this post has made you hungry, join Kathryn Presner and me at Burritoville tonight for some straight talk on optimizing websites.
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