The cliché that you only get one chance to make a first impression is especially true when it comes to visual impressions. Whether or not a good visual first impression is made, however, is something that is determined by the viewer. Equally cliché is the advice to not judge a book by its cover. Nevertheless, we do. Making determinations about things based on their visual appearance seems so shallow and superficial, but it's virtually inescapable. We hate to admit that we are easily influenced by what we see, but, hey, that's the way humans are. And that's why so much of human communication is based in visual media.
A Web site is predominantly a visual medium, though audio can be added. Within the context of business and marketing communication, Web sites may be the most visual medium (if such can be said) because they approximate what we're already familiar with in the ubiquitous television. Web sites typically offer varying degrees of interactivity, but it's their visual impact that captures our attention, motivates our willingness to read further, click on things, scroll the screen, and peruse the site.
When a new visitor accesses your Web site, a rapid and almost unconscious, complex thought process is activated. Within seconds, an impression is formed, a determination is made, and the visitor decides whether to stay or leave. Within that very short span of time, your Web site must, among other things, answer the two most important questions the visitor wants to know: 1) where am I? and 2) what does this site do?
This article focuses on concepts and ideas for creating a favorable impression and answering these two important questions.
Creating a favorable impression
For all the opinion research that's done by marketing firms and all the design efforts expended by graphic designers and Web site builders, creating a favorable first impression is still something of a crap shoot. What people find appealing is highly personal and subjective. Sure, there are a number of universally accepted ideas about what is good versus bad design, but individuals reserve the right to make up their own minds about what they like and don't like. About the only "rule" that one can make about creating a favorable visual impression is to avoid something that is deliberately offensive and obviously distasteful. But even that may be irrelevant, depending on the audience the Web site is designed for.
If you're an insurance agent, your Web site audience is the insurance consumer. Insurance consumers are a varied lot, but they all share a few things in common. They have some level of understanding about the notion of needing and having insurance. They know that insurance products vary with respect to features, coverages, prices, claims, companies, agencies, etc. And because insurance includes financial, legal, promissory, and ethical ramifications, consumers want some measure of confidence-inspiring information and reassurance. Traditionally, these characteristics have added up to a more or less conservative approach when creating visuals used in insurance advertising and marketing.
Creating a potentially favorable impression or image is a combination of many factors. There is no precise formula that will automatically guarantee results - no specific color combinations, no unique taglines or slogans, no special graphics or photos, no neatly turned phrases.
Instead, the visual impression will be arrived at through a process of graphic design experimentation. Factored into the process will be the personality of the agency, the essential look and feel of what the agency wants to convey, and several "fixed" visual identifiers such as the agency name and logo. In all likelihood, the agency has already established a visual identity of sorts through its business cards, letterhead, and a variety of collateral print media. The colors, typestyles, and other visual elements contained in these items may influence or guide the direction of the Web site's appearance. If little thought has been given to an agency's visual identity, now would be a good time to establish one so that print and electronic media can be coordinated and unified. This combination of visual clues, along with other considerations, helps promote the agency brand.
Question 1: Where am I?
If you haven't traveled very far on the Internet, it may surprise you to know that many Web sites do not instantly answer the "where am I?" question. For some reason, this seems to be especially true in academic and scientific Web sites. The problem is compounded when clicking on a search engine link that connects you to an internal page deep within the site, where you quickly discover that you have no idea whose Web site you are visiting.
Answering the "where am I?" question seems rather obvious. If a visitor specifically wants to view your site, they don't want to waste time making sure that they have, indeed, found you. While we discourage the use of splash screens and Flash presentations (because they take time to load and delay access), at least include your name and logo, if you must use this additional attention-getting device. Don't try to dazzle would-be visitors while making them wait to find out whether or not they really did access your site.
We take the position, along with many other Web observers, that every page within a Web site should answer the "where am I?" question. It's just common sense that Web site users want to know where they are and who is posting the information.
The "where am I?" question is easily answered by including the business's name and logo on every page, at the top of the screen, and generally in or toward the left corner. Furthermore, as mentioned previously in Sounding Line, we believe that that the name and logo on internal pages should be clickable and linked to the home page. Should visitors enter your site via a page other than the home page, one click immediately takes them there.
The name and logo does not need to be excessively large, just prominent and distinct. Sometimes the name and logo are larger on the home page than on interior pages, but that's not particularly necessary. So long as your agency name and logo are prominent and distinct (i.e., not lost in the clutter of surrounding information), visitors will recognize that the Web site belongs to you.
Question 2: What does this site do?
While the "what does this site do?" question seems obvious, it requires more thought than answering the "where am I?" question. That's because Web sites can do more than one thing. Insurance agency Web sites typically provide a variety of general information about the agency and its insurance products and services, specialized information requests that often interact with third parties (e.g., certificate requests, rate quotes, and the like), and opportunities for communicating with the agency via e-mail. Somehow, the visitor must be able to quickly identify and sort out what the Web site does.
Many times the "what does this site do?" question is answered in the name (and possibly the logo) of the business that posts the site. Bob's Bicycle Shop, for example, is fairly obvious and wholly appropriate for a store that sells bicycles. Bob's Bicycle Sales and Service is even more illuminating. In contrast, the name Sullivan, Brown & Hayes is vague. Names such as this one are commonly used by legal firms, consultants, and other professional organizations. Addition information must be included to more accurately identify what the name suggests. In general terms, the only Web sites that can "get away with" a non-descriptive name are those of the large, nationally-known companies whose names have become household words -- IBM, CNN, Texaco, Ford, Sears, Kodak, to name a few.
For most insurance agencies, the "what does this site do?" question is typically answered by the inclusion of the words "insurance" or "insurance agency" in the site's name. Additionally, a descriptive tagline or slogan amplifies the purpose of the site. For example, "insuring your family for three generations" suggests a personal lines orientation and a degree of longevity.
The "what does this site do?" question is further answered by the menu structure and special clickable icons and buttons, such as "auto quotes," "make a claim," or "local weather forecast." The primary concern here is careful page layout and content organization; that is, avoiding clutter that detracts from the visitor's ability to quickly perceive the site's purpose and offerings.
"Above the fold" issues
The term "above the fold" is newspaper jargon that refers to the information that appears above the fold (the top half) when the newspaper sits on the newsstand. The information that appears above the fold is what sells newspapers because that is what the buyer sees first -- the big headline of the day, an important story, and an eye-catching photograph. On a street corner where several newsstands or racks might be located, newspapers compete for the passerby's attention with the information that is presented above the fold. The content above the newspaper fold functions much like the front cover of a magazine that sits in those racks at the supermarket. A great deal of effort is spent deciding how to design the information potential buyers see first. It must be attention-getting and attractive and purport to offer meaningful or useful information.
The home page of a Web site serves a similar purpose, but the format is different. Unlike print media that is displayed within a fixed format that is controlled by the publisher, Web sites are displayed in variable formats that are controlled by the user. That's because Web pages are displayed on different size monitors, by different browsers, on different systems, and with a number of possible screen resolutions. It's beyond the scope of this article to provide a detailed explanation of designing Web sites for different browsers and resolutions, but suffice it to say that what you design may not appear that way on the viewer's monitor. So, if you can't totally control the way your Web site will be seen by the viewer, what can you do that will increase your chances for creating a favorable impression?
As a rule of thumb -- especially in answering the "where am I?" and "what does this site do?" questions -- the most important information on the home page should appear in the upper two-thirds of the screen. The upper half would be even better. By way of illustration, note the proportions of the Aetna and Allstate screens on the preceding pages. Notice that the Allstate screen in much deeper. On my monitor with my browser and resolution setting, the entire Aetna screen is displayed when accessed. The Allstate screen cuts off in the middle of the "Financial Services" paragraph, and I need to scroll for additional information. In my opinion, the Aetna screen more easily answers the "where am I?" and "what does this site do?" questions because I can view everything at a glance.
Finally…
Your home page is like a magazine cover or today's newsstand edition. In the vast sea of other Web sites, yours must compete for attention and view-ability. Your home page is the single most important page of your Web site. It deserves more creative thought and effort than the site's other pages, which will take their visual clues from the overall design established by the home page. If you take your Web presence seriously, pay close attention to the visual elements that make a good first impression and answer visitors' immediate questions about your site.
© Copyright 2001 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights reserved