When you create a website for your business, or outsource the creation of one, you are creating a promotional product with the intention of increasing awareness for your business or helping people to buy your products. This means you need it to perform certain functions and to have a particular effect on the visitors, which is why it’s so important to create an effective and attractive design using professional designers and sensibilities.
However, thinking about design in general is not enough here. As you are designing your site to have an effect on a particular group, it is more important that you think about that group and that you attempt to work with your knowledge of their psychology. By understanding the way your visitors think, and the effect that certain website elements are likely to have, you can anticipate their behaviour and better yet: influence it.
Here then we will look at the psychology of your visitors, and at how you can make your site work wonders on the people viewing it…
People Are in a Hurry
The first universal truth that you need to understand about your visitors, is that they will almost always be in a hurry. Studies have shown that use of the internet actually shortens our attention spans, because we’re so used to getting the information we want immediately and in bite sized chunks. When you’re used to reading Twitter, you lose patience for sites that force you to navigate through lots of pages to find what you want.
Make your site immediate then or you will lose your visitors. And this goes double for people making mobile sites.
People Like to Click
One of your goals as a webmaster should be to try and get people to click on your links, and many businesses will pour a lot of time and resources into trying to figure out how they can do that. The good news here though, is that fortune is actually on your side in this case. That’s because people actually like to click on links – again it’s a behaviour that we have learned and doing so can actually stimulate the release of dopamine.
Getting people to interact with your site then, should really be a simple case of ‘giving them what they want’. Make your buttons large and click-friendly and people will be much more likely to click them.
The F-Zone
The F-Zone might sound like a computer game, but it actually refers to the way people view websites when they first load up. Specifically it explains the pattern that our eyes move in when we’re greeted by a new page – which forms the shape of an F as we look along the top first, then the left hand side, and then across the middle.
If you have something that you need to be seen then, or if you have any critical navigation elements – put them in those places and they’ll definitely be seen.
These are just a few of the psychological factors that influence the way people experience your websites. The more you learn about human psychology, the more effective your site will be in helping you to achieve your goals.
Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://pixabay.com/en/cursor-mouse-click-pointer-146588/
License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://pixabay.com/en/alphabet-f-abc-letter-150769/
The author of this article, Jackson Mosby, works with Webfirm, a reputable website design company. When Jackson is not working, he loves spending quality time with his family and friends.
How Understanding Psychology Of Web Surfing Can Improve The Effectiveness Of Your Web Design http://t.co/w5PHUAu1Kx