Understanding that people read web pages differently than other media is key to writing and laying out copy that will promote your business or product.

Reading a web page is closest to reading a newspaper. When you pick up a newspaper, do you start with the first word and read all the way down to the bottom of the page and then move on? No, not at all. You scan the front page for headlines that stand out to you, stopping on the ones that seem interesting and then reading through the article. Or even spotting a Headline for a story on Page 2 or the “Scene” section and turning to that story immediately.

People approach your website the same way– no matter what page they enter on your site- they scan the page for something that will keep their interest. Headlines, bullet items, text formatting and clear navigation all help the scanability of your page. If they came looking for a particular service or product- they are immediately on the lookout for more information about that topic of interest.

Make sure all the main pages of your site are easily scanable. Keep your visitors interest by making your headlines and navigation items obvious and relevant. Use appropriate text formatting, such as bolding and italics to draw the eye to important points. Don’t hide your links to other content on your site by changing the color or removing the underline.  These queues help visitors quickly find what they are looking for.

Many clients and business colleagues have heard me use the term “Above the Fold” as well as quoting stats for screen sizes and resolutions. Why do I care so much and why should all web site owners care about this?

I care because it can mean the difference between success and failure.  If your most important sales tools are hidden, you are unlikely to make the sale. Its a dog eat dog world and you have about 5 seconds when someone comes to your website to grab their attention.  If attention grabbing details are not on that first screen, bye bye- your prospect is gone.
We’re a little bit lazy- we web surfers.  We don’t like to scroll.  So pitch your most important stuff up at the top of the page.  Make it easy for us to find.  And no, my screen is not the same size as your screen.  Just because you have yours set up to fit an entire encyclopedia volume, doesn’t mean the rest of us do.

Current stats:  78% percent of web users have screen resolutions of 1024×768 or less.  How big is that?  Well, if you have 10 icons or more down the left side of your computer desktop on your monitor– you are in the minority.

Screen resolutions obviously continue to advance as new technology and bigger screens comes out, but you might notice- there is still a practical limit. We can only read words that are so small! In fact, if your target audience demographic consists of people of more advanced age, they will be skewed toward the bigger elements and larger fonts– therefore LESS fits on their screen- maybe an 800×600 resolution (16% of web users).

So keep this in mind when you’re writing web copy, placing promotions, placing your contact information– anything that is necessary to make the sale!

Keep an eye out for mail from Yahoo giving away $50 in Yahoo Search Marketing credits for new accounts.

Yahoo Search Marketing is Yahoo’s pay per click and sponsored search advertising venue for web site owners. As Yahoo is currently the number 1 search engine used on the internet, your advertisement can potentially reach millions and be seen on sites like Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, and CNN.

So if you are thinking about trying out this advertisement method, starting with an extra $50 ad budget is a great place to start. If you do not receive a mailer from Yahoo (or you simply see this entry well past its post date), you can still Sign up and get a $25 credit.

If you have a web presence and any sort of advertising budget, I highly suggest you at least test the waters with Pay Per Click.  If you need help setting up a campaign to increase your chances of success, give me a call – I can help.

Well, I took the opportunity on a quiet Sunday afternoon to take my Adwords professional exam and…. I passed!  I am now an authentic “Qualified Google Advertising Professional“.

You can see my Professional Status page at Google.

I hope to help many more businesses take advantage of this unique and effective advertising venue.  Be ahead of the curve! Try it out!  If you’re worried whether it will have a good ROI for you, give me a call. I can give you some examples of effectiveness and sometimes find a way for you to get a free trial.