There is a reason why people can be categorised and segmented by demography and psychography. The reason is that people behave predictably in a certain manner at certain stages and circumstances in their lives. While there will always be exceptions, they can be considered as outliers and ignored due to the overwhelming majority of people who stick to the rule. This principle can be applied to website visitors as well.
They are people of habits and rules too. Hence, if you can figure these habits out and design your website accordingly to cater to those habits, you will be able to attract more visitors to your site. Knowing the right behavioural traits to leverage can help you achieve higher website traffic, garner more interactions as well as achieve more brand conversions without too much effort.
Also, you do not have to be a psychology graduate to be able to make this happen. Some of the behaviours are quite simple that you observe every day with the people around you. Some are more complex and were discovered by studies done by researchers. But none of it is so difficult that a bit of research cannot help you with. Simple common sense and research skills are all you need to get this part under control.
However, the more difficult part is to implement these rules. You could always use templates to create websites, but these templates should be cleverly designed to adhere to the rules of people’s web surfing. But, if you want something unique and novel, your best bet is to get professional website designers and Copywriters who know these rules by heart and incorporate them in every part of their work.
To be precise, there is no end to the number of habits we can list which website creators should keep in their minds. But here, we list a few of the most apparent and important ones that you just cannot afford to miss.
More People Surf The Web On Mobile Phones
According to Statista, there are over 4.66 billion Internet users in the world, of whom, 4.32 people use mobile phones to surf the Internet. This is due to the fact that mobiles are far more accessible and portable than a desktop or even a laptop. This overwhelming majority implies that websites must ensure their sites are mobile-friendly to be able to attract any substantial traffic.
Moreover, the mobile screen differs from a desktop screen not only in size but also in shape and the kind of usage behaviour users show. Thus, website owners must ensure that their existing sites should allow responsive behaviour in smartphones or even better, have a specialized mobile site that is built keeping in mind how people read and act on mobiles.
Most Users Just Surf Through The Web Page
Unless a user is sure the information they need is on the webpage they have opened or they need to learn something on the page for a test, it is highly unlikely that the visitor will read every word on your page with focus and dedication. Most users are looking for very specific information that are generally not available on a number of sites.
Therefore, most of them will skip through the first few lines, paragraphs, or even the whole page before exiting the site. In any case, they would not be going deep into detail. Therefore, it is important to show the main information your page provides clearly and on the top so that the visitor knows what to expect from your page.
People Do Not Have A High Attention Span
One of the things that every website creator should keep in mind is that visitors are impatient people. Like any other thing, people are looking to quickly get their hands on the information they need. If they do not find it instantly on your page, they will move on to the next.
Therefore, it is highly important that you pinpoint what the objective of your site is and accordingly, provide the right information where people will look first at it.
There is a rise in click less or zero-click searches these days. Do not be intimidated by them and provide the right information in the meta description if that is what gets the attention of a person to your webpage or site.
Readers Get Cognitive Load
Cognitive overload plays a huge part in whether a user stays on your website or not. If the amount of information, textual, visual, audio, or otherwise, that you present to the user at once is too much, it will overload their senses and they will get out of your site immediately. The same goes for if you use too complex language or layout on your page.
Nonetheless, people become confused trying to understand what is going on, and when it becomes too much for them, they simply exit the site. An uncluttered site with clear design elements, easy language, navigability, and accessibility tools for the entire demographic is what you need to make sure that people do not have to put in too much effort to use your site.
Bullets And Lists Are Easier To Follow
Bullets do the job of pointing out exactly what the person wants to know and summarizing it for them. They work on the same principle as point number 3. People have a short attention span and bulleted lists do the job of telling them what they need to know quickly, showing exactly where they need to look to find that out.
You will also often see people using a bulleted or numbered list to show in short what the rest of the content is talking about. This helps people save time as it tells them instantly if the page will provide value to them. Accordingly, they will stay on the site or leave.
Bold Letters, Capital Letters, And Different Fonts Grab Attention
Another great way to attract the attention of viewers in the right direction is to highlight the text or other element that you want them to look at. There are obviously a number of ways you can do that, including using bold letters, capital letters, a different font, font colour, or size.
The dissimilarity between the highlighted element and its neighbouring elements will instantly grab the eye of the reader and they will be able to infer what you are trying to convey to them more easily.
This is exactly why headings and subheadings or different kinds of texts come in different types of font properties – it is to let you know that they are more important than the rest and deserve your attention first.
An Organized Layout Is Preferred
We often come across layouts that are, for the lack of a better word, disorganized. There is text anywhere and everywhere, visual elements like images and videos are inserted right in the middle with the text clinging like aluminium foil to it, the flow of the text is not in the expected left to right and top to bottom directions, there are ads and pop-ups all around, too many things are moving and happening too fast and all at once, and so on.
Even talking about it makes you uncomfortable and puts you on edge- isn’t it?
Looking and even trying to decipher such a website is a herculean task no visitor has the patience or appetite for. As a repercussion, they will quickly move to a page that shows better design.
Consistency Is Essential
When it comes to web surfing, users do not like surprises. They like consistency and want to feel in control of what is coming next. Consistency on a webpage is therefore extremely important.
If you use short paragraphs, a sudden long paragraph will put people off. If all images are situated on the right, a sudden image in the center will throw viewers off their visual balance. If you use a blue theme for your page, a sudden shift to red or yellow will hurt people’s eyes. Staying consistent is important in giving people a pleasant experience throughout their viewing of your webpage.
Videos Attract Focus
The reason people love YouTube so much is that videos help us learn much better and faster than a textbook. Any kind of visual learning is retained better and evokes a better response in people than textual or auditory learning. No matter what the subject or circumstance, visual learning has a far greater impact on people than other modes of learning.
That is why websites should utilize videos to educate and inform their visitors. In fact, a video on your website can attract 300% more traffic than the website without would. It will even get you higher up the Google SERP ranking. Many people feel it is too much hard work to create a video. But the ROI is too high on videos to ignore them.
Colours Have Emotional Impact
There is a reason certain brands use certain colours in their marketing. For example, the colour yellow elicits warmth and happiness while red is a mark of boldness and energy. Red, in combination with yellow and orange is also said to evoke feelings of hunger in people.
And just like that, it explains why McDonald’s is the go-to food place for so many people. Add purple or violet, the colour of creativity to it and you will understand what excites people about Instagram.
Colours have a great hand in determining how we feel when we look at a webpage or even a certain element on a webpage. A red text will look like a warning. A green site will make you calm. In brief- you have the power to control exactly how people feel at what point on your site using colours.
Web Surfers Should Have Control Over Their Experience
As we said before, people want to be in full control of their web experience. They do not want to feel like someone else is deciding for them what they should do, even if that is the case in reality. Interstitials and pop-ups that prevent the visitor from accessing the site content or blurs it completely unless they sign up or press the cross sign are one of the most annoying things that web users hate to come across.
Similarly, if your cross sign on the ad or notification is hard to find or is so small that it takes a few tries to close, people will simply leave the site. A complex checkout or registration process or that requires a person to go in a certain order only is another big put-off. As long as the visitor feels in control, you are safe.
Mental Exhaustion Results In Bounce
Mental exhaustion is different from cognitive overload. Cognitive overload is when you give too much to the visitor to tackle at once. Mental exhaustion occurs when the visitor has to work a lot to make a simple thing happen.
Maybe they have to look too hard for a certain piece of information. Maybe the writing is too small or it takes a lot of effort to open an image or video. Maybe the sign-up process is unnecessarily complicated.
All of these can cause mental exhaustion to the visitor that they would rather avoid than reap the reward at the end of the process.
The Position Of The CTA Matters
The ‘call to action’ is perhaps the single most important component on your site that is a mark of whether you were able to serve the visitor as they expected. If the visitor takes the action that your CTA requires, it means you were successful in fulfilling the objective of the website.
But that is not all. The position of the CTA is also important.
If the visitor does everything you want them to and they want to take the required action but they cannot because they didn’t find the CTA, nothing is more unfortunate than that. Or if the CTA shows up before everything and the visitor simply leaves because they did not receive any value, it is even worse.
So, depending on the complexity of the process, the CTA should be positioned on the page. The more complex the process is, the lower should the CTA be to give time to the reader to understand the process.
Objective Language Elicits Better Response
People like to feel included and involved in what they are doing. Web surfing is no different. If people feel that you have an agenda of your own or that they do not actually matter, they will simply leave your site. That is why using objective language always elicits a better response from people.
Secondly, using subjective language makes it seem like the writer is only concerned with letting you know what they think rather than what you would want to know. Moreover, pompous language or a brazen promotional tone will make people feel like you are more interested in your product than in providing value to their lives.
This will make them go to a site that caters more to their needs than its own.
The Sequence And Flow Of Logic Is Important
It is not unusual to come across sites where the writer, or rather the writing, seems to be all over the place. They mention one thing to start with, suddenly move on to a different topic, and circle back to the first topic with no connection between the three parts. This only makes readers confused and grappling for sense.
A logical flow of the sense of the text is important so that readers can be gently lead from one topic to another with a clear connection between the different parts. They should be able to understand easily why each bit of information is necessary for the context of the topic and must be present on the page. If there is no logic in any part of the page, visitors will simply feel like you are wasting their time.
In-Your-Face Is Never Appreciated
One of the things that people unanimously hate all over the world is in-your-face content. If they feel you are aggressively pushing something onto them or provoking them intentionally for a certain reaction, they will leave immediately. The last thing they want is to be coerced by discomfort into doing something and regretting it later on.
Whether it is a call to action, a promotion, or a simple attempt to evoke an emotion, the moment you get too hyper, viewers will choose to leave your page and go somewhere that provides the same offering as yours but in a much more peaceful and comfortable manner.
Customization Counts
Every website visitor wants to feel special. They like the feeling of you catering to them. They like the feeling of being able to relate to someone and have them understand their predicament and solve it. This is what makes blogs so popular and relatable. However, treating a matter like an ‘umbrella issue’ will not work.
Visitors must feel that you are trying to solve the exact pain point they are facing. That is why you need to tailor your content to suit every single segment of your target demographic.
You have to conduct research to find out what kind of problems they are searching solutions for and then hand that solution to them on a platter. It would be even better if you could provide a number of options to them to choose from.
Evidence Helps Convince
If you say something deep or serious off-handedly, chances are, people will not take you seriously enough. But if you can provide proof to back up what you are saying, they will listen to you more seriously.
The same rule applies to the Internet too.
Just like social proof convinces prospective users of a product that this product will help them as it has helped others, any factual proof will help readers agree that you have done your research and know what you are talking about.
This will convince them that the solution you are providing is effective and they will be keener to accept it. You can use your own, verified research or add links to studies by others to have this impact on your readers.
The Shorter, The Merrier
Have you ever looked at a long paragraph and sighed, wondering how long it will take you to complete reading it?
A website is no different.
Using long sentences and paragraphs confuses and bores people. It makes them have to look back at the beginning constantly to remember what it was that you were originally talking about. It also makes it more difficult to locate specific information and remember their exact location on the page.
The solution is to break up your content into small paragraphs based on the topic and the context. Pages with smaller paragraphs have been shown to register longer sessions. This is because it is easier to read and so, people continue viewing its content longer.
Most Of All, Provide Value
At the end of the day, the thing that people came looking for on your site is value. They want to add to their knowledge. They want a solution to their problem. They want information for a project they are doing.
Your job is to provide that value to them.
If your readers believe that your content has no actual value and you are wasting their time, they would not want to stay on your page. Even when you are promoting something, ensure that you are adding some complementary value to the lives of your readers. That will make them want to convert to your brand more often.
Conclusion
Understanding what motivates your readers, and what inspires them, is essential for keeping them on your site. The more you cater to their needs, the more they will come to your site and the longer they will stay. Moreover, they will also recommend you to others, and that is the key to the success of your website and overall business in long-term.
