Swimming Downstream: Give Your Future Clients What They Expect If you've ever had the pleasure of sitting and watching fish in an aquarium, you'll not only notice the peace and tranquility that can be experienced, but also the realization that living things commonly possess certain similar traits. Let's use the fish from the Point2 Marketing department for this example. In watching the three of them in their tank, they spend a lot of time digging around, looking for food (despite the fact that they are regularly fed). They will purposely go to an area of the tank and inhale what looks like a viable food item, only to spit it out immediately if it is not what they were hoping it to be. They repeat this process over and over until they find what they want, then sit and slowly nibble at it, enjoying the fruits of their labour.
I hear you asking, "What are you getting at?". Rest assured, I have not lost my mind...yet.  This continual forraging parallels the actions used by online visitors, looking for the information, products, or services they are hoping to find. Upon searching a term, the visitor "inhales" and takes in the list of possible sites, visits them, then immediately decides whether or not this is a viable option. They "spit out" the ones that are not immediately appealing or look like they hold the information that is relevant to them, but will stop and "nibble", or take in, the ones that appear to be solving their immediate needs. This means that your site, as much as you want it to be about you and the services you offer, needs to be attractive to the average visitor and must satisfy their needs.
What are people looking for when online? Information. Information. Information...and in an easy-to-read, attractive layout that doesn't require them to do a lot of further searching or reading. Keep things crisp, to-the-point, and accessible. If the key things that visitors want cannot be found on your site within thirty seconds, consider revising your page structure, the location of the information, or the delivery of that information. That will help keep visitors on your site, nibbling on the information they initially wanted, but still interested enough to forrage a little further into other areas and topics. Giving them the information they want now also means that they will continually return to your site when wanting further nibbles on similar information. Some food for thought... Quote (and pun) to ponder: "No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise." - Lewis Carroll
~ Tanya Spilchak, Education Coordinator |