| |
| |
|
Web Design Information |
|
|
|
Why Long Web Pages are Better than Short Ones
Many Internet sites that try to sell you something have very long pages. Why is that do you think? Well, it appears that long, scrolling, web pages lead to more sales than short pages. This article explains why you need long web pages. If you have surfed the web for things to buy you can hardly have missed some of the seemingly endless, long, scrolling web pages that only tell you the price somewhere near the bottom of the page. Some of these web pages have around 5,000 words on them - a good chapter of a book. They go against all the advice from web designers and Internet 'experts'. So why do they appear? Some web designers have told me that such pages break the commonly agreed rules of good web 'etiquette'. This suggests that you should only offer one 'screen' of material at a time and that if you have more than will fill a screen, you should break your information up into separate pages that people click through. The designers also talk about compatibility with different screen resolutions, PCs and Macintoshes and explain, quite logically why you should limit the material you have on a page. Then, if you speak to marketing communications experts, they'll tell you that your web page should offer clear directions as to what the user is expected to do - either 'sign up', 'buy now', etc. They claim this can only be done with short web pages which are clear and uncluttered. So we have unanimous voting from our jury of experts which is in favour of short web pages. So let's consider what the 'long page' gurus say. I have spoken with several proponents of the long page concept. They all say the same thing. When they had short web pages they had a trickle of sales. When they re-wrote their web site and made it a single page with all the copy on one scrolling page, their sales rocketed. The simple truth of the matter is that more people buy from long web pages than from short ones. As a psychologist that set me thinking, why should that be? The answer is, I think, a relatively straightforward one. Human beings like to adopt the option of least effort. Whatever we do, we appear to want to avoid maximum effort. In web site terms, clicking is more effort and more time consuming than scrolling - particularly if you have a wheel mouse where a single flick of the forefinger can get you all the way down the page. It means with a single web page you can get to the information you want within a second or so, but with several single pages it might take considerably longer. Hence we are put off by the effort of single pages - we never get to find out if we would really like to buy the product because we give up before we get there. Whereas with a single web page, we can quickly make our decision by viewing all the relevant material at once. The long page proponents say that most people do not read the whole page; instead they look at the headlines, see if there are testimonials, read the bullet points and see if the ordering process is secure and simple. Naturally they also check the price - though this is not usually the first consideration. Hence if you have a long web page with all these components you can boost your sales. I've tried it and it has worked for me. It could work for you. If you are not sure - experiment. Set up a separate long page and compare the results with your existing short pages. At least on the Internet you can test your different business ideas quickly and easily. I'm convinced you'll find the long web page works best - let me know what happens! Graham Jones is a psychologist who has specialized in the way we use the Internet. He is an expert on information products and runs Infoselling.com where you can get a FREE report on how to sell your own infoproducts.
MORE RESOURCES:
Web-Design - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Immutable Laws Of Effective Navigation - Part 1 The first immutable law of effective navigation: It's gotta be readily available.Visitors should not have to hunt for your navigation or wonder where to find it. Hiring a Graphic Designer You've come up with a great product. You've got the sales letter written for your website. Pages to Include in Your Website What pages need to be included on your website? The answer varies for each type of business and depends on how informative you want your website to be for potential clients. Below is a list of sample pages for you to review while you plan out your website. Offshore Web Design and Development - Use Great Opportunities Sooner or later every small or medium business owner realizes that he needs a web site for his business. And almost everybody wants to have great web site for affordable price because usually web site design budget is quite limited. Converting Print Advertising For Use On The Web - A How-To Contrary to the beliefs of some, advertising for web and print are very different. Converting print ads for use on the web is very tricky. Maximising Web Site Viewability - Resolution This is my second article on maximising web site viewability. Analysing screen resolution data. Web Copy - What You Should Know First Just what is web copy? Some people think that web copy is anything that is written on a web page. But that is "content" and it is decidedly different than web copy. The Key to Getting More Magic Shows Booked Online This article is the result of a conversation I had with a magician about his website. He wanted to know if I could build him a nice looking site that had his name and contact information on it. When Good Computers Go Bad Remember the day that you got your new computer (or the hand-me down from Uncle Larry) and you pulled that shiny case out of the box? Once you finally had all of the cables properly mangled into an unmanageable ball, you powered on, the screen lit up and off you went. The PC was fast, programs loaded in the blink of an eye, and Internet surfing was a breeze. How Not To Get Web Design Work I get the occasional web design lead from my website. I wanted to find a company I could pass these onto. Ten Fatal Mistakes That Make Web Sites Stink Since you'll spend lots of time and money to create your web site, don't you want to make sure you're not making mistakes that at best irritate users, and at worst make you lose customers?After all, when you alienate users, you lose potential revenue. Who can afford that?Dr. How Not to be Ripped Off by Your Website Designer As web designer my self, I have had the unfortunate luck of speaking to too many of my clients who have been ripped off by a web designer somewhere along the line. Whether it be that the designer never really finished the website, took the deposit and was never heard from again, or finished the website with less than promised quality. 3 Tips You Can Use Right Now to Improve Your Web Sites Usability Studies done by Jakob Nielson the man touted as the, "King of usability" by Internet Magazine showed that people do not read on the web like they would normally read offline.So what does this mean to you and why should you care?Visitors to your web sites are in a rush, they want the information you promised and they want it NOW. Sales Versus Customer Oriented Websites Should Generating Revenue From A Website Be The Prime Motivator? A pure sales site has only one purpose.. Your Website Could be Letting You Down A professionally presented business website is a powerful and essential marketing tool: it's the first thing prospective customers will look at before they decide to contact you.If the copy on your website is not written to an acceptable standard, it may be losing you customers. Web Design: Should You Hire Someone or Do It Yourself? So you need a website. You are not sure if you should hire someone or learn HTML and do it yourself. One-Product Sales Sites: Avoid These Top Blunders One product, one long web page: this kind of web site is sometimes called a sales letter site or mini-site, and it focuses on one and only one goal, as many sales of that one product as possible. With a one-product sales site, no distractions, no subsidiary goals, such as newsletter signups, are allowed to interfere with that goal. 10 Tips for Killer Website Design Does website design make a difference in how long people will visit your website or if they'll stay and shop? You bet. You've seen the websites that scream "bad idea" and you know those folks are losing potential customers to their ineffective website design. How to Make the Online Sales Copy for Your Website More Conversational It has been said that the best online sales copy is one that talks to your prospect as if you are in together in a conversation.But for some of my subscribers to my newsletter, they find it difficult to accomplish. Having A User Friendly Website Let's look at what your user wants to see at your website.1.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
