Passive is for the old ways of taking in media content. Active Internet users seek what they want, when they want it, and expect to find it fast.
It, of course, may be one of a multitude of things. When someone wants ‘it’ and hits that online connection to track it down, the sites that should fare the best at serving that need know to get the heck out of the way of their visitors.
As the Google Website Optimizer blog discussed ways of doing this, they pointed out several useful resources for helping webmasters tweak their sites for a little bit better chance at converting the visitor. Tim Ash of SiteTuners.com received a mention for his advice on optimization; our talk with him about his book, Landing Page Optimization, appears here.
Google also cited a trio of excellent tips published at WiderFunnel. Those tips nudge webmasters to aim for brevity and directness with the pages arriving visitors hit.
WiderFunnel called for clear guides that call for action on the bottom of the content page. That provides a better option than forcing someone to hunt through a navigation bar for their next action.
Copy should be focused. Cut it in half, then do it again, WiderFunnel advised. And each page needs to present what they called persistent calls to action, like a contact link or a list of recommended products. Visitors don’t want to spend a lot of time looking for the next action choice (that impatience thing comes into play.)
Though a lot of people may be sweltering in the July heat, it’s time to start thinking about later in the year, when the important holiday shopping happens in the fourth quarter. Testing now can help later, and for anyone looking for more advice, SES San Jose will offer sessions on landing pages and a host of other search-related topics in August.
