Psycho-Social Marketing Analysis
Rules of Engagement for Professional Websites
Our Psycho-Social Analysis shows you the real messages your visitors receive from your marketing. This is especially true for websites, but also for: print materials, blogs, social media, ads, letters, articles, white papers…. Here are 44 of the things we look for:
First Impression (from the visitor’s perspective):
- Do you force me (the visitor) to click past a “splash page”?
- Do I (the visitor) feel comfortable and welcome on your home page?
- Do you make it easy for me to determine exactly what makes you special?
- What hits my eyes first?
- Do you force me to watch a video or listen to an audio before I can read any of your content?
- How appropriate and effective are images, colors, type, layout, movement, line length, linguistics, etc.?
- Are you showing photos of real people from your firm, or do you settle for stock photography?
- Do your photos show you as approachable?
- Do you show your personal side?
- Are your images relevant or generic?
- Do your images load quickly?
Readability:
- Is it easy to understand the site’s messages?
- Do you present your content in short, easy-to-read sentences?
- Is your content written with active verbs?
- Do you confuse me with sporadically bolded or italicized words?
- Do you give me quick access to your messages with subheads?
- Are the messages relevant to me?
- Do you use a consistent typographical format?
- Is your content reader-friendly for your specific target market?
- Is your content free of technical language or abbreviations?
Credibility:
- Do I trust you and your messages?
- Does your About Us page show photos of the principals?
- Can you show me social proof of your credibility (testimonials, case studies)?
- Do you use 3rd party objective references (outside sources, articles, links)?
- Do you use Expert and Scientific proof (research, licenses, awards, etc.)?
- Do you show me how recently your page/site was updated?
Connection:
- Do I feel a connection to your company or product?
- Is the language focused outward on me or inward on you?
- Do you represent a true service/resource or just a sales pitch?
- Can I quickly determine your values?
- Are you transparent? Do you show behind-the-scenes people and process?
Usability:
- Can I quickly and easily find what I need?
- Does your site use a new format or give me one I’m familiar with?
- How easy is your site to navigate?
- Are the important pages and content cross-linked?
- Does your site give me a clear sense of your people’s credibility and trustworthiness?
- Is your site navigation strategy obvious?
- Do you give me links to your other pages?
- Can I easily get back the previous page or the home page?
- Do you badger me with a Sign Up box or disruptive banners?
Engagement:
- How easy is it for me to take the first step and get involved with you?
- Do you provide visitors with a free report, consulting session or other “taste”?
- Do you include a simple-to-solve puzzle or objective quiz?
- Do you give me an easy/friendly way to communicate with a real person?