Eyetracking and Heatmaps Help Prove Several Points in New Study
This is for you automotive high performance marketers who work in the business-to-business arena. In a previous post I mentioned MarketingSherpa’s Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08.
The folks at MarketingSherpa conducted a new eyetracking study using a heatmap with real-life business executives to determine the best design for key Web site pages (pgs. 18 and 19 of the guide).
One among many conclusions they reached is that a headline’s first word has more impact than any other word in the headline. The same holds true for each sentence and each paragraph. Seriously consider each first word: Is it the most powerful word you can find? Some writers will use any word that comes to mind but may not be the best word for that position.
They also determined that two-column formatting where the informational copy and registration form are above the fold can help boost response rates. But they also determined that three-column formatting above the fold results in lower response rates. They recommend site pages be designed with fewer click options and fewer path decisions for higher rates. Too many decisions can cause the viewer to click away to your competitors’ sites.
The researchers found that immediate and large calls to action such as “Sign up Today!” or “Register Now” aid in creating higher response rates, even though the action by the respondent seems self evident. They added that “Being politely pushy can pay off.”
October 15, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Yes, Mike, this is a very powerful study. Also they said bullet points on the home page get a very high read rate. Thanks for the insight!