The internet is very similar to teleportation in science fiction movies – you can end up somewhere totally within the blink of an eye, or a click of the mouse in the case of the web.
There’s no information like how long it took to get there from your previous location and there’s no looking out of the window to see if you’re travelling to the right sort of place.
That means it’s really important to clearly show the user:
- the name of the website that they’re on
- what the site is about or for
- what they can do on the site and
- what they need to do next
Without this information, the user becomes lost and is usually tempted to click straight back to the search results to find some other place that’s a bit more welcoming- and what’s more, it’s unlikely they’ll come back.
The Man from Mars Test
At this point, you’re probably asking yourself, “What is the Man from Mars test”. To put it simply, could someone with no information about your site – our Martian – know what it’s for and how to use it within 4 seconds (why 4 seconds, well that’s the typical amount of time someone spends on a site working out what’s going on).
Try this exercise out with a few sites, and see how clearly the site communicates its purpose.
How to Create the Signposts for Your Site
There are some really simple things you can tweak to create some signposts so that people interpret your site effectively.
- Make sure your site has a logo, especially if you’re handing out business cards with your logo on there
- Have a tagline – that bit of text that goes with the logo, that explains why you’ve set up the company (or website). If this has got you stumped, there’s some good advice on Marcia Yudkin’s site on how to go about it
- Make sure your navigation is clear and describes where people can go and what they can do, in language they understand..
- A clear, prominent page title and some subheadings within your text
- Add links to your About Us section, if people need to know more about you or your site.
There are lots of other ways to improve your online communications – my writing for the web tips section give more ideas.
