bland selling sites

Finally back to lurking the sowpub board again, after a few years (dunno if anyone other than Thomas, and possibly Dien Rice, would remember me). I've been looking for posts on CPC methods, and affiliate systems.

I clicked through to two links from these boards:

http://www.businesslyceum.com/DepressionProof.html
and
http://www.midasreports.com/stoprefundscold/

and it got me thinking ... is it detrimental for these pages to be so "bland". The information is without doubt useful, but I have to seriously work to absorb the information. On a wide screen monitor like mine, each line stretches out a long way. There are a lot of design conventions that these pages seem to completely ignore, conventions aimed to improve readability of text, etc. Also, I've been looking at some pages written by Shawn Casey, his first introduction was a sideshow presentation with audio, which definitely helped me to assimilate his information with a lot less pain than reading blocks and blocks of text.

Is it then an advantage, or a disadvantage to have "bland" layouts? On one hand, it's less attractive, and more difficult to get customers, on the other the people that knuckle down and read through the text are definitely looking for the information and haven't just clicked away.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by DominumBelli

Finally back to lurking the sowpub board again, after a few years (dunno if anyone other than Thomas, and possibly Dien Rice, would remember me). I've been looking for posts on CPC methods, and affiliate systems.

I clicked through to two links from these boards:

http://www.businesslyceum.com/DepressionProof.html
and
http://www.midasreports.com/stoprefundscold/

and it got me thinking ... is it detrimental for these pages to be so "bland". The information is without doubt useful, but I have to seriously work to absorb the information. On a wide screen monitor like mine, each line stretches out a long way. There are a lot of design conventions that these pages seem to completely ignore, conventions aimed to improve readability of text, etc. Also, I've been looking at some pages written by Shawn Casey, his first introduction was a sideshow presentation with audio, which definitely helped me to assimilate his information with a lot less pain than reading blocks and blocks of text.

Is it then an advantage, or a disadvantage to have "bland" layouts? On one hand, it's less attractive, and more difficult to get customers, on the other the people that knuckle down and read through the text are definitely looking for the information and haven't just clicked away.

Yes of course I remember you! I hope things are going well!

On sales pages with lots of text, to my understanding, many people have tested video or audio on a sales page, and increased response. (That is, video or audio, along with text as well.) I think why that might be the case is that different people prefer different things. Some prefer to read text, others prefer to watch a video or listen to an audio presentation. If you have both, prospects can choose the format they like best!

Having said that, I think a text sales page makes sense for those two products, because they are written products. So, people who will want to buy them I presume will like to read, so will be happy to read the sales message.

As for me personally, I actually prefer reading text to listening to an audio or watching a video. That's because I can "skim" a text, and jump around, or re-read something easily if I didn't get it the first time. It's harder to do all those things with a video or audio (you can't skim at all, and the other things are a little more difficult). I can usually read faster than people can speak, so I find I can get through things quicker if I read. But I know many people prefer audio or video to reading a text (especially if you're tired!).

Well, that's one person's opinion...!

- Dien

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

That's because I can "skim" a text, and jump around, or re-read something easily if I didn't get it the first time. It's harder to do all those things with a video or audio (you can't skim at all, and the other things are a little more difficult). I can usually read faster than people can speak, so I find I can get through things quicker if I read.

- Dien

Yep, I'm very much like this myself, when I'm researching I prefer being able to read information at my own pace, rather than having to go at the pace of the video. In saying that, sometimes I like to grab a hot drink, put my feet up, and lean back with the headphones on, just watching and listening.

With straight text though, trying to read lines that stretch from one side of my screen to the other is a pain. There's some reason that newspaper articles are written in columns, something to do with the eye not having to move too far left and right for each line, and therefore being easier to read.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by DominumBelli

Yep, I'm very much like this myself, when I'm researching I prefer being able to read information at my own pace, rather than having to go at the pace of the video. In saying that, sometimes I like to grab a hot drink, put my feet up, and lean back with the headphones on, just watching and listening.

With straight text though, trying to read lines that stretch from one side of my screen to the other is a pain. There's some reason that newspaper articles are written in columns, something to do with the eye not having to move too far left and right for each line, and therefore being easier to read.

Ah... I tend to resize my browser!

(So it's not so wide...)

Though I know many people like to "surf" online with their browsers on "full screen" size...

I think the answer to that is probably to limit the width of the text on the website. I haven't really done that with my sites - though I probably should!

Here's an example of a newspaper article which is at fixed-width. No matter what size you make your browser, the width of the text stays the same...

(It's an article about how eating beets can help lower blood pressure...)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/ma...7/hbeet107.xml

Ankesh Kothari's "Non-Toxin" website, Gordon Jay Alexander's blog, Michael Ross's website have the same feature...

http://www.nontoxin.com/are-tomatoes...odds/?u=sowpub

http://www.incomeandhappiness.com/bl...-are-we-doing/

http://www.michaelrossonline.com



- Dien

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Ah... I tend to resize my browser!

(So it's not so wide...)

Though I know many people like to "surf" online with their browsers on "full screen" size...

I think the answer to that is probably to limit the width of the text on the website. I haven't really done that with my sites - though I probably should!
- Dien

Yep, this is definately what I've done with every website I've created in the past. Keep it easy to read. There used to be a great site I read ages ago that displayed all it's articles in a format that made you feel like you were reading a magazine. Information in 2-3 columns, easy reading, beautifully presented. Couldn't find it again at short notice, but I did come up with this:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...xelated-Nipple

ok, a bit tongue in cheek. Still if you can focus on just the area of the article (ignore the heading and the adverts on the right), it displays it's text information in a very attractive fashion (pun fully intended) has graphics to make it visually appealing, and has the main "selling point text" repeated in a large block, different colored text, and even in that the sales lines are extra emphasized.

Now I've written that, I'm wishing I chose a different example, so my meaning isn't lost :P Hope what I wrote makes sense :P

A must read...

From a well known Expert on the subject...

Jakob Nielsen...
http://www.useit.com/jakob/
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/

Of course, ask a 1,000 other Experts and you'll get a 1,000 different opinions...

Phil

Thanks for that page, was an interesting read.

It, and most of it's links, actually make the point I've been fumbling towards: visually attractive pages.

So many of these product sales pages I've been reading, and these pages regarding "usability" of web sites......... are simply unattractive. They're not pleasant to look at. This is not to that they're not functional, they do present their information in a functionally sufficient manner. Just not an appealing one.

So, to rephrase my question in my original post.... Does it cause sales to suffer if the website selling products is visually unappealing? If so, why are so many of these sites selling these products not putting in the work to make them more aesthetically appealing? Far more than just the layout of text, but page coloring, images, layout, etc.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by DominumBelli

Thanks for that page, was an interesting read.

It, and most of it's links, actually make the point I've been fumbling towards: visually attractive pages.

So many of these product sales pages I've been reading, and these pages regarding "usability" of web sites......... are simply unattractive. They're not pleasant to look at. This is not to that they're not functional, they do present their information in a functionally sufficient manner. Just not an appealing one.

So, to rephrase my question in my original post.... Does it cause sales to suffer if the website selling products is visually unappealing? If so, why are so many of these sites selling these products not putting in the work to make them more aesthetically appealing? Far more than just the layout of text, but page coloring, images, layout, etc.

I don't think a web site has to be "attractive" in order to sell...

I think it depends on what the sales message is...

For example, if the website is about a couple selling their home made jam online, then a "home made" website might actually be the most appealing. Their "home made" website "reinforces" the sales message - which is that the jam is "home made"...

If they have a very snazzy, corporate looking website to sell their "home made" jam, it could actually detract from the message... It makes it LESS believable that the jam is really "home made" - and might make it look more like a slick "scam" trying to pawn off factory-made jam as "home made"...

On the other hand, if it's a bank which is selling their services, you don't want a "home made" look! That would probably reduce confidence... With a bank, people want to know that there is a big institution behind it. They don't want to deposit their hard-earned money to a business they think is on the edge of going bust! So, for a bank, a "home made" website look could hurt more than help...

Of course, the answer is testing. I believe the answer will differ depending on your product and how you're "positioning" it in the market...

Another point is that many "ugly" websites are simple and focused. For example, some of the websites you linked to earlier have one single focus - to get the sale. Some other "slicker" websites have links taking you in all kinds of directions - which can distract from getting the potential customer from clicking on the "order" button...

Here's some other relevant discussion on this topic...

The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites
http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2006/mar/27prt.html

The hidden truth: Ugly websites do sell
http://performancing.com/content/the...bsites-do-sell

An ugly website which apparently makes a lotta moolah
http://www.plentyoffish.com

Blog by plentyoffish founder
http://plentyoffish.wordpress.com

Interesting, no?

Cheers, Dien

Some might be interested to know...

Markus Frind actually got his business rolling by posting in a forum...

Just goes to show you, it's all about Working your idea...

First post here asking for help...

http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/forum...l=plentyoffish

http://plentyoffish.wordpress.com/20...ted-an-empire/
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthre...plenty+of+fish

Phil

Ta for those, Dien

The most valuable message that jumped out from those pages was "Make the potential customer comfortable" . Throw them off with too much stuff splashed around the page, distracting their eyes from your message, and you've lost them

If you look back on google, when it first started, it provided what people wanted, a clean page with only the search box, and nothing else. At the time, astalavista, yahoo, etc had craploads of adverts, news.... their search pages were chaos, as they were trying to monotise their search engine traffic at the time. And look at google now

Basicly, just follow the KISS principle: keep it simple, stupid. Function over form.

In saying that, I firmly believe that a well designed, clean, attractive page *will* sell better than a whole bunch of text thrown on the screen in huge blocks. Obviously there are many sites that are selling very well using poor design, but how much better could they do with a basic makeover?

I *hate* having to "work" to get the information I'm after. I'll persist reading through masses of text, but my mood hits the floor pretty quickly. How many sales have been lost because people got tired of trying to absorb the information on a web page?

Back to the comfortable idea. Many people are somewhat afraid of the net. There is a need to build up a certain "trust" with these people. One thing almost everyone is familiar with is TV. At the moment, video presentations on these websites seems to be vastly underutilized, and would seem to be the simplest way to reach out to a non-tech savvy audience.