SEO Strategy

The current video in the Stompernet series called “Going Natural 2.0″ is about web design and how it has a direct bearing on the usability and conversion rate of your web pages.

This is not news to most web or graphic designers. Most of us have assumed all along that the way things are laid out on the page is an important factor in the way people interact with the content on a page, and the extent to which they are attracted to certain elements, and encouraged to or discouraged from acting on the call to action on the page. In other words, we assume that graphic design has something to do with “conversion rate”.

The Stompernet video takes this concept beyond the vague notions that most of us have about the importance of design and shows how an analysis of eye movement on the page, and the way we focus our “foval” vision on quite small areas can have a direct influence on the tendency of site visitors to stay engaged and ultimately click where we hope they will click.

The major assumption behind the presentation is that we only focus on a small area at any given time and that important elements on a page should therefore be grouped so that each of these units makes sense when standing on their own. The theory - backed up by eye motion and conversion rate studies - also dictates that chunks of text - like a side nav bar for instance - should be broken up with clear sub-headings. This makes each sub-division easier to digest and therefore more likely to be read. Which in turn should increase conversion rate because readers are more likely to find what they are looking for.

Once this is pointed out it seems fairly obvious. But the fact that something is obvious has never prevented people doing the exact opposite. Most of us simply go on gut instinct when designing our websites. Eventually we may start paying attention to usability principles. This video makes the equally obvious suggestions that we should do so right from the start if we want to give our site visitors a satisfying experience and get the best results possible.

Like the other videos in this series, this 31 minute video goes well beyond the usual cheap and dirty marketing videos we are used to seeing on Youtube or Revver. It is professionally produced and the content is deep, stimulating, and well presented.