USING THE WEB FOR MARKETING. Why the web is important Know your audience Tasks and links Creating...
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Transcript of USING THE WEB FOR MARKETING. Why the web is important Know your audience Tasks and links Creating...
USING THE WEB FOR MARKETING
• Why the web is important
• Know your audience
• Tasks and links
• Creating great content
• Search engine optimisation
• How the Computer Centre can help
Is the web really important?
• First impressions
• Market research
• Everyone uses the web?
Getting the fundamentals right
• Web users are impatient!
• You have 8 - 20 second sell
• Practical, self-service environments
• Less is definitely more – avoid redundant information
• One clear message – spell it out
Know your audience
• Who are they?
A diverse audience
• What do they care about?
• What do they want to do?
• Can they do it on your website?
• Can they do it quickly?
• Calls to action
• Example of call to action…
• Is your website easily navigable?
• Is it well signposted?
• Keep it simple – web users suffer attention deficit syndrome!
• And keep the number of clicks down
Tasks and links
• A link is a promise
• Make your link clear – does it look like a link?
• Make sure web users can click your link and complete the task it promises…
I want to apply online for a PG programme
• Links set up an expectation that have to be fulfilled
• Links in body text are disruptive to the reading process
• People often automatically click on the first link – even when it’s not relevant
• Put them at the end of your content
Creating great content
Your message
• Strong compelling statement that is distinctive
New UoL homepage with new compelling statement
• Make sure it engages your audience – is it a call to action?
• But make sure it means something and says something about your department or university
• This will help with search engine optimisation
Care with words
• Words are important – they are often the first thing prospective students will come across about your department
• Does it do as it says on the tin?
• Writing links is as important as writing content
• What do words mean to people who won’t be familiar with your department?
• Don’t be vague!
Content
• Try not to use second hand content• PDFs take ages to open and don’t read
easily – they aren’t web content• Is your content out of date? • Dated content can make your website
look neglected• Make sure there is a point to content – a
call to action or link to more…
• Titles are important
• Make them clear and concise
• Eyetrack lll 2004: “Most people just look at the first couple of words – and only read on if they are engaged by those words.”
• So try not to begin a title with your name
• Keep titles less than 60 characters – good for search engine optimisation
Can people read content on your website?
• There is a good reason why newspapers are printed black upon white
• Reading computers screens is 25% harder than print
• So why make it harder?• Sans serif fonts (Arial, Verdana) are easier to
read – they have no curls!• Italics on screen don’t look great – they can
create de-emphasis
Images
• Images are part of your message so make sure they are compelling and relevant
• Ideally they are accompanied by words that are a call to action or act as a teaser…
COMPELLING
CLEAR
COMPLETE
COFFEE
Think about:
Workshop
• Your Department’s Web site• Other Agencies that you depend upon