I have to admit, I love to surf. As a matter of fact, if I had a choice between working and surfing, I'd rather surf. Although I am not able to do it as much as I once did because of goals and workload, I still try to find time to check out what's goin' on out there and to see who's doing what and how.
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"A site that doesn't capture a surfers attention off the bat is destined to not get that signup." |
One thing I try to do when surfing, is see how I react to other peoples sites...mainly, paysites. I like to look at the design, flow, and interaction from a surfers standpoint. Would I sign up for this site? Is it built to my likings, or is it built to annoy me enough to leave?
Suprisingly enough, most of the time it's the latter. This is an unfortunate way, I'm sure, that many paysite owners are making their surfers feel. These are the same surfers that paysite owners are wanting to whip out their credit cards and part with their hard-earned money. These are the same surfers whose money is going to be the lifeblood of the site itself. So, why do they go away? Aside from being tricked into getting to the site in the first place, what makes someone not want to buy a membership? If I positively knew the answer to that question, I would be in a position right now to sell my rights to the answer and retire to the Pago Pago Islands, and allow the next 22 generations after me to do the same.
A site that doesn't capture a surfers attention off the bat is destined to not get that signup. So, if the surfer is not meant to be there in the first place, than so be it. However, if they were on a quest to seek out, for example, "Guys Wearing Pink Bunny Outfits", and you just happen to have the site GuysWearingPinkBunnyOutfits.com, than most likely they are there to get fulfilled and they had an idea of what to expect before going to your site. Once they're there, it's as easy as pie getting them to sign up, right? They know it's a paysite, they know it's exactly what they want right now,...all said and done...you have a new member, right? Slow down Turbo. They just left and you're stuck with no new member. What happened???? It was a sure sale!
Well, the reality is, short of a computer lock up or the guys wife walking in on him, it was probably because your site didn't didn't work on his psyche or bugged the crap out of him. As mentioned in earlier articles, the pupose of the site tour is to sell. It's your salesperson. It's your brochure. It's your dialogue whose only purpose is to get the person from the front page through the join page easily, quickly and happily.
If it didn't work, and aside from the content (or lack of itself), try looking at the following rules and see if any fit your situation:
Be Consistent
In the use of colors throughout the site, unless you're doing a site called "Buck-ass Nekid Austin Powers", there's really know need to use a different psychedelic page with multi-colored flower patterns each step of the way.
In the location and order of navigation. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to find the button that takes you where you want to go.
In the use of fonts. Unless different fonts are used strategically in the design, stick with a limited amount of basic fonts that are easy to read, preferably sans-serif.
Limit
The use of bells and whistles. There's no need to have a romantic midi file playing in the background to prove to the surfer you know your html shit. You're not going to flatter them with your technical know-how. Otherwise, they'd be surfing cgi-resources.com instead of looking for porn.
The width of lines of text. Keep your sentence structure short and in small structured areas of the page. Get to the point and get them moving on. No need to explain the science behind anal dildo insertion.
The number of clicks to reach any given page, especially the join page. If they have to find it right now, they're not even going to try.
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Always Provide
An off switch for music, sounds or auto-playing video streams. Nothing is more frightful than suddenly diving for the volume when the loud moaning of a woman getting gangbanged blares out of your speakers while you're surfing in the public library (ahem...cough, cough).
A non-Flash version of Flashed sites. Nothing will make a surfer click out faster than not giving them an option of whether or not to see a cheesy Flash design. They may not want to wait for your 25.52Mb Shockwave file to download. Give them a choice to admire your fine craftsmanship or not.
Instant visibility of the most important links and information. Make it obvious what you have and how to get it. Make the main features "In Your Face".
Sufficient contrast between background and text. Bright yellow text on a white background is almost like burning a whole in someones retina. Stick with readable text and not something that's going to strain your potential members eyeballs before they even get to see the juicy stuff.
Never
Underline text. It will be confused with links. Unless it's so obvious that it's not a real link, it's not a good idea or else you'll have someone clicking on a dead link instead of your join button.
Force visitors into using the back button on their browser. The only way to get someone to signup is to use a forward progression all the way to the join page. Move them forward, forward, forward until you get them right where you want them.
Rely on mouseovers to label links. How are they going to know where to click? If you're puzzling the hell out of your surfer, they know of one quick way to fix their problem of not knowing where to go...by typing in the address bar "www.yahoo.com". Guide and direct them toward closer to your join page, not away.
Place text on top of loud or busy backgrounds. "I CAN'T SEE WHAT THIS SITE IS ABOUT!!! I'M OUTTA HERE!". 'nuff said.
Break the back button. What's up with that?? If they're going to back out, why not just hit them with a console and send them to a sponsor? What is so important about that one page that you MUST insist they stay right there?
Well, in the grand scheme of things, it's best to look at your site over and over with an open mind and look at it from a surfer standpoint. Would you sign up because you thought it had the coolest looking Flash gizmo or because it fulfills your present need? Is it getting you from Point A to Point B easily and quickly? Food for thought.