Your website should be easy to READ, not easy to look at.

[Kathleen Hanover]

One of my favorite web usability experts is Jerry McGovern. Here's his latest blog post about why designers can be dangerous to your conversion rates. You can subscribe to Jerry's newsletter, New Thinking, by clicking this link.


WHY WEB LINKS ARE CALLS TO ACTION
by Gerry McGovern

The exact words you choose on the Web can have a huge impact on
behaviour. Finding the right combination of words takes testing
and a focus on the action.

Dustin Curtis creates user interfaces. He's a creative type. I
knew that as soon as I visited his website because he uses a
black background. That's very creative. It's amazing how many
creative types use the exact same black background to tell the
rest of us that they are creative and have a very individual
approach to design.

It's hard to read what Dustin writes on this black background;
gave me a bit of a headache actually. But that's okay. I had a
great overall experience of the page because its black
background communicated an important emotional, aesthetic thing
to me.

Seriously, it's a bit of a pity Dustin makes it so hard to read
his stuff because what he has to say is quite interesting. At
the end of his articles, Dustin has a short, humorous bio. In
this bio he has tested a variety of ways to request people to
follow him on Twitter.

The first one he tested contained the following within his bio:
"I'm on Twitter." (with the "Twitter" as the link) That had a
conversion rate of 4.7 percent. Then he tried: "Follow me on
Twitter." (with the Twitter as the link). This had a conversion
rate of 7.3 percent. Next up was: "You should follow me on
Twitter" (with "Twitter" as the link). The conversion was 10.1
percent. Next, Dustin tried the following approach (I'm showing
you the whole bio).

My name is Dustin Curtis
I make user interfaces and experiences. I am 8,227 days old. You
should follow me on twitter here. You can learn more about me in
my about article and on my less interesting blog.

In the above approach, "here" was the link. This had a
conversion rate of 12.8 percent. This is very interesting stuff
and shows the benefits of testing. However, here are a few
observations. I've found that the most effective links are
written like headings, not part of sentences at all. I've found
that putting links in sentences reduces readability and
clickability. I've also found that using blue text and
underlining the link immediately makes it obvious that it is a
link.

The problem is, of course, that it's hard to have blue and
underline when you have a black background. Isn't it amazing how
many designers hate underline? They think it's ugly, that it
takes away from the look of the page.

Have you read any grey books recently? I mean, have you read any
books that use grey text or that have black backgrounds? Or, for
that matter, have you read any print newspapers or magazines
that use grey text? It's well documented that it's harder to
read on a screen than in print. So why do designers deliberately
create webpages that make reading even harder? Simple, really.
Many web designers are more concerned with how the page looks
than how it reads and functions.

Strange though it may seem to some, the number one activity on
the Web is reading.

----------------
Content management solutions: Gerry McGovern
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com

Published by Gerry McGovern
Copyright (C) 2009 Gerry McGovern. All rights reserved.
Used with permission.

[Doreen Cohanim C.Ht]

Thanks Kathleen,

Well, I was not impressed by Gerry McGovern website or his advice... Maybe It is just me :)

Doreen Cohanim C.Ht
www.EnterYourMind.com

[Thea Pueschel]

I am 90% with you Doreen. I agree his website has little if any interest for me, it is left margin heavy. Which just creates a sense of clutter and unreadability, in my opinion, the other half of the screen appears as if it is missing content...not intentional. However, I agree with the need for readability many times I come across a website and I just leave because it is difficult to read or such as his cluttered to one side creating a focus issue. I have a background in visual arts as well as working in the news. So I believe in both form and function.

I did check out your website however Doreen, and I have to say I give it a 98%...

[Doreen Cohanim C.Ht]

Thank You Thea,

It's not even updated, and many people suggested that I should change the dark background, and I just like it, the way it is, they could be 100% correct, but for some reason I am not ready to chage it yet :)

I also deifned two of my other websites all by myself, where I can add more Info without hiring an expensive webdesigner, It is not as prfessional as EnterYourMind, but it does the work, feel free to share your opinion...

Respectfully, Doreen Cohanim C.Ht
www.HypnoCruise.com
www.HypnoPet.com

[Jon Rhodes]

A big problem with web designers is that every site they design is also a show case for their talents. A future customer may not be that impressed with an ugly site that converts well, when researching their work. It's probably better for their portfolio to design sites that look extremely attractive, even if it is at the cost of a reduction in conversion rates.

Designers will often sacrifice usability for flashy graphics that you don't need, cost more, and slow down the site. A complicated site can distract people from buying your products and/or services. But it is easy for them to lose sight of this because they know all these techniques, and are itching to use them!

[Kathleen Hanover]

Jon is 100% correct. When I worked at a marketing agency, we were constantly having to reign in the web designers, who would make a completely useless (but oh so slick-looking) website if given the chance.

Doreen, Gerry McGovern gets up to $75,000 for a single web usability consulting engagement, so I'm going to defer to his proven results and massive fees. He must make companies a heck of a lot more money than he charges them, or he wouldn't be in such demand all over the world. I've learned a lot from him over the years. I have to confess, my own site violates his edicts too, but I end up working on my own projects last (the cobbler's children scenario.)

BTW, I went to your site pretending that I wanted to stop smoking and lose weight. According to your website, you don't do those things, so I left after 10 seconds, which is about twice as long as the typical visitor would spend there.

Now, if you don't offer those services, it was appropriate for me to leave. If you do offer those services, you've really flipped the bird to any real potential client who'd like help with those things.

The web is not about self-indulgence, it's about customer service. If you've put your site up for your own entertainment, then it's obviously doing a great job. If you've put up a website in hopes of generating leads, then I hope it's working great for you. It wouldn't have worked for me in the scenario I set up.

Kathleen
The Pretty Goodest Public Relations, Copywriting & Marketing Lady on the Planet™
Click @KathleenHanover to follow me on Twitter

P.S. just an FYI, Doreen, www.HypnoPet.com is a GoDaddy ad page. There's no site there.

[James Szeles]

Thats funny I had a black background on my web site for ten years. I've recreated my web site started from scratch but I'm using gray type.
James

[Doreen Cohanim C.Ht]

I am with you Jon, great advice.

Doreen Cohanim C.Ht
www.EnterYourMind.com

[Doreen Cohanim C.Ht]

Thanks Kathleen,

It was my mistake, It is www.HypnoPet.org :)

FYI: Most of my client come to me for stop smoking and weigh loss, so I guess even if I don't have a specific page that says stop smoking or weight loss, they do know that it is what I offer, If you went to my service, you would know that I did that to.

Beside, my website is not for everyone that just browse to see how it looks, it is for the one who specifically are in search for my services, same way I was that I was not impressed with Gerry McGovern website or his advice.

Respectfully, Doreen Cohanim C.Ht
www.HypnoCruise.com