The Deal With User Experience

What should you put on your site? Where should your links go? How should you format your page? A lot of questions go into web design.

According to a study by Harald Weinreich, Hartmut Obendorf, Eelco Herder, and Matthias May, the world of websites has changed in the last 10 years. This study found that “users return less frequently to previously visited pages.” So what does that mean for our websites?

It means that you have to think about creating forward-propelled content. Instead of forcing your readers to go back to previous pages, you want make sure that each page includes all of the information that you want them to receive.You should create a footer with your logo and contact information so users don’t have to click around to find it.

The Weinreich, Obendorf, Herder, and May study also found that “pages visited for less than 12 seconds…had an average number of 430 words” and if your webpage appears on the second half of the Google search results page, your site will receive less clicks than the results on the next page.

Here’s what this means for you:

•   You should provide scannable content.
•   You should provide metadata so your site shows up early on Google results.
•   You should make sure your pages load quickly — users will move on if your page doesn’t load fast enough.
•   You should place your most important links in the upper left quadrant of the browsing window.

The way people read online content is always changing, but the one thing that probably won’t ever change is the fact that if you have good, relevant content, your users will enjoy coming back to your site.

6 Landing Page Tips to Create a Better Page

Your landing page is any page that readers click on, but a landing page can be used to get readers to complete a specific task — whether that’s buy your product or click through to go to another page on your site. To create a landing page that converts into direct sales, there are few things that you want to keep in mind:

Explore the benefits of a product or service. Don’t talk about the features or the specs. Yeah, people might want to know how tall or small your product is, but they really want to know how your product will benefit them.

Write a great headline so that your page will show up in search results. Keep your headline clear.

Include a subheader that outlines your promise. What will your readers get from reading your landing page?

Keep your content simple. You want your readers to spend time actually reading your site, so don’t cloud it with random bits of information, long sentences, or hard-to-read paragraphs.

Research your competitors to make sure you’re including the right type of information.

Finally, make sure you have valuable information. You don’t want to waste your customers’ time. You want to deliver on the goods you promised.

How To Write a Useful Blog

There are over 150 million blogs on the Internet, and that’s just today. Not all of them are useful and not all of them matter, but it’s important to create blog posts that are both useful and unique. To do that, look at some ideas below.

Interest is one of the most important qualities that you can bring to your blog. If you write about all things tech, don’t pass up on any opportunities. If there’s a tech conference in town, go to it. If your friend is trying out a new product, ask if you can join. Don’t be afraid to scour the Internet, to ask your friends questions, and to ask strangers questions. If you’re not asking questions, you’re not doing your job.

Research ties into interest as well. You want to stay relevant and up-to-date. If you are about to launch a new product, you should do proper research to make sure you are presenting it in the best way. Check out your competitors. How are they telling their story? How is your story different from theirs? You have to put in the hours of research and remember what sets you apart.

You’ll want to make sure that you write to your audience. You should know who your audience is and know how to approach them. Imagine you are writing to one person. You should think about who this person is and what they need to know from you.

Set goals so that you know what you need to write about and when you need to write about it. This will help you make sure you aren’t missing any opportunities. Of course, you can’t schedule in everything, so you will want to leave room for possibilities.

Finally, you can’t be afraid of telling the truth and reaching out to your audience, readers, and clients in a real way.

How to Relax and Get More Done

We know that it seems counterproductive, but relaxing might actually help you be more productive. According to a NY Times article,  “A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal — including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.”

Things like afternoon naps, downtime from work, and vacations (where you don’t check your phone) can actually help you get more done. But how do you know when it’s time for a break? You’ve probably noticed these signs and then promptly ignored them:

• fatigue
• eye strain
• feeling overwhelmed
• feeling sleepy

The trick is to take a small break when your energy starts to dip. To relax, renew, and recharge, try some tips below:

• meditate for 5-10 minutes
• take a 15-minute nap
• don’t answer emails after work
• actually take your vacation days
• sip some tea
• exercise throughout the day

These are simple principles: recharge more deeply so that you can work better. It’s as simple as turning off your phone after work, taking small breaks throughout the day, and listening to your body.

How to Write an Email That Gets Read

Newsletters are great tools. They help people get the information they need quickly, but how long do readers usually spend on an email? You tell me. How many emails do you get on a daily basis? More than 10? More than 100? More than 500? No matter the amount, you probably don’t read every word in every sentence of every email. You probably don’t even read most of the words. I bet you just scan the email for the important parts.

But how do you know what’s important? You don’t, but the person creating the email should. Here are some tips that you should employ while writing email newsletters.

• Your headline should be the most important part of your emails

• All important information should come early in the content

• Bullet points should be used to help your readers quickly scan emails

• You should be clear. Marketing Sherpa’s study showed that emails with clear (as opposed to clever) headlines were opened more

•  You should make it easy to read

•   You should use actionable language to help your readers know what to do

•   You should keep it simple

•   You should include links to social media

Remember to always keep your goals in mind. If you provide well-written, consistent, and readable newsletters, your customers, clients, and friends will usually open your emails and spend the time reading them. In addition, no matter how good your content is, if you don’t have eye-catching visuals and an appealing aesthetic, chances are your readers won’t open it. Make your email newsletter something you would want to open and read, and you’ll never go wrong.