Website Design: What Do Prospects Really See on Your Website?

How does your web site look to prospects? Do they see what you want them to see? Is it effective at getting them to take the action you want them to take?

While surfing the other day, I ran across a really interesting company that helps you truly identify what your prospects see when they visit your site. The company is called Eyetools. They have taken a technology originally developed at Stanford University and adapted the system to literally track what your eyes see when viewing a web page.

Using what they call "heatmaps," they overlay a web page with a color-coded map that shows where viewers eyes track and hesitate on a page and where the eyes do not track. By using these maps, Eyetools can advise businesses on changes they should make to improve the visibility of the web page and as a result, improve the action rate of what you want them to do (download, sign-up, click, etc.)

A blog by their founder, Greg Edwards, shows these heatmaps and explains them in detail.

Mr. Edwards conducted an interview with World Talk Radio that provides some tips and hints as to what web design characteristics you should consider to increase your prospects' attention and actions. I took a few notes while listening, here's a few dos and don'ts to consider in the design and layout of your website from the research Eyetools has conducted:

1)      Use background washes (highlighted background area) to highlight very important text and direct viewers where you want to go. Helps people to segment the page and focus them where you want them to go.

2) Use of small icons and little images is important.

a. People don’t look at the icon as much, but the icon directs them to that area for them to read the text near the icon. The icon refocuses attention to the area of the icon.

b. People look at faces for longer duration of time. Faces attract and hold more attention then icons. Keep the message near the face.

3) Length of page (scrolling) is not necessarily a bad thing. “Page can be longer than you realize – assuming good design.”

4) Segmentation and balance of a page is important.

5) The first phrase of paragraph text (3 or 4 words) is “hugely” important.

6) If you use a title and then repeat the title/meaning in the first words of the paragraph for that title, this is very bad and you’ll lose the reader. Keep the content fresh.

If you want some other "free" ideas to improve your web design and layout, check out the Eyetools website to see what they've done on their own website.