The Psychology �of Website Visitors
#WineWeb
October 12, 2021
Presentation Title
Subtitle
Month, #, Year
Neuromarketing
Persuasion Research… Social influence Research… Cognitive Bias Research… Social Psychology… Brain Scan Studies… MRI Research… Non-Rational, Unconscious Decision Making… Sociology… Eye-Tracking Studies… Behavioral Economics… Behavioral Science… Brain Science… Social Neuroscience…
What sign will
keep him on the path?
"The vast majority of past visitors have stayed on the established paths and trails, helping to preserve the natural state of the Sequoias and vegetation in this park."
"Many past visitors have gone off the established paths and trails, changing the natural state of the Sequoias and vegetation in this park."
"Please stay on the established paths and trails, in order to protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in this park.”
"Please don't go off the established paths and trails, in order to protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in this park.”
The Psychology of Website Visitors
"The vast majority of past visitors have stayed on the established paths and trails, helping to preserve the natural state of the Sequoias and vegetation in this park."
"Many past visitors have gone off the established paths and trails, changing the natural state of the Sequoias and vegetation in this park."
"Please stay on the established paths and trails, in order to protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in this park.”
"Please don't go off the established paths and trails, in order to protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in this park.”
A: Others did the right thing
B: Others did the wrong thing
C: You should do the right thing
D: You shouldn’t do the wrong thing
source: Pat Winter, PhD,
Which sign worked?
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Witness a visit
One person, one page
Deconstructing a website visit
The interaction between the content and the visitor
“I need some help.”
The Zero-Moment of Truth
The Psychology of Website Visitors
“I need some help.”
“Take a look at this company.”
(search results page)
The Zero-Moment of Truth
The Psychology of Website Visitors
“I need some help.”
“Take a look at this company.”
(search results page)
The Zero-Moment of Truth
The Psychology of Website Visitors
“What does this company do?”
“How do they do it?”
“Can they do it for me specifically?”
“Am I in the right place?”
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
…
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
Service Name
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“We’re number one.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
“Not sure if they
can do it for me”
…
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
Service Name
Service Name
Long, blocky paragraph with some keywords in it.
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“We’re number one.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
“Not sure if they
can do it for me”
“I don’t really have time to read all this.””
…
Let’s try that again…
“What does this company do?”
“How do they do it?”
“Can they do it for me specifically?”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
“Ah. Their approach looks interesting / thoughtful.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
Clever subhead
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
Detailed answers to top questions
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
“Looks like they could help with my specific needs.”
“Ah. Their approach looks interesting / thoughtful.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
Wow, this team is super helpful
Clever subhead
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
Detailed answers to top questions
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
“Looks like they could help with my specific needs.”
“People like them! �Maybe I should get in touch…”
“Ah. Their approach looks interesting / thoughtful.”
H1 Header
H3 Subhead text
Call to action
H2 Subhead
Body text
logos
Video
H2 Subhead
H2 Subhead
Testimonial
Body text
Body text
What do they do?
How do they do it?
Are then legit?
Have then done it for people like me?
Can they do it for me?
“I want my copy to sound different”�Where to be clever. Where to be clear.
H1 Header
H3 Subhead text
Call to action
H2 Subhead
Body text
logos
Video
H2 Subhead
H2 Subhead
Testimonial
Body text
Body text
Clear
Clever!
Clear
Clever!
source: Google UX Playbooks
The Psychology of Website Visitors
source: Google UX Playbooks
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Differentiation and Design�Is your UX a place to stand out?
“I want my website to look different”�The case for NOT differentiating in the UX
…show one thing
at a time…
…and don’t use �unexpected UX
The most
beautiful designs…
Perceived Beauty vs. Prototypicality
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Simpler flow wins a higher conversion rate
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Descriptive Header�Simply say what you do…
Most Homepage Visitors Don’t Scroll
Composite scroll heatmap for 10 lead generation website homepages
On average, 73% of homepage visitors do not see any below-the-fold content.
Typical “fold”
The Psychology of Website Visitors
The largest text is the most vague
Descriptive Navigation Labels�Help the visitor can segment themselves quickly...
The Psychology of Website Visitors
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Meaningful Subheads
Our products
Subheads can be meaningful (and keyword-focused) too
Ideas & Insights
Our Customers
Our products
Our baking and pastry products
Subheads can be meaningful (and keyword-focused) too
Ideas & Insights
New Ideas from Inside Our Bakery
Our Customers
100 Years of Quality Baking Ingredients
Big text!
…vague, says nothing
Small text
…impactful, compelling
Is the most visually prominent thing also the most compelling thing?
Social Proof
“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.”
Eric Hoffer
Social Philosopher
10 Ways to
Add Social Proof
Endorsement at the top
More endorsements below
”As seen in…” press mentions
source: What do website visitors want?
It’s not why they came, but we want them to see it…
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Credibility at the top of the homepage…
…and at the bottom of the footer
“Trusted by…”
Some trust seals are trustier than others
The Psychology of Website Visitors
source: Baymard Site Seal Trust Report
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Testimonials
Picking the messenger for your message.
We are #1
A faster, easier way.
You’ve tried the rest.
Now try the best.
“So helpful. Their attention to detail is amazing.”
“I was actually surprised. It hardly took any time at all.”
“I’ve worked with a lot of these companies. This was the smoothest process by far.”
When you say it. When they say it.
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Logo
Headline
Face, name, title, company
Target keyphrase
Elements of a great testimonial
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Avoid making a testimonials page…
Beware the testimonials page
…instead, make every page a testimonials page!
No one really likes this blog post
As-seen-in logos
Video testimonials
Reports and case studies
Statistics and data
Fill your pages with evidence…
Is “trust” a search ranking factor?
E-A-T
source: Quality Rater Guidelines
E-A-T mentioned 135 times
The Psychology of Website Visitors
“Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness of the creator of the main content, the main content itself, as well as the website.”
Lily Ray
SEO Director, Path Interactive
Google’s criteria for analyzing the trustworthiness of content and the people who publish it in order to mitigate misinformation.
Adding E-A-T �to Websites
1. Author’s name, face, credentials
2. Fact-checkers name, credentials
3. Date
Google knows this doctor.
He’s in the Knowledge Graph
Schema that supports E-A-T
source: schema.org
Person | Organization | Local Business |
|
|
|
“When you say it, it’s marketing.�When they say it, it’s social proof”
Priming & Anchoring
The $300 bread maker helps sell the $130 bread maker
The Psychology of Website Visitors
$45/month? What a bargain!
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Loss aversion and scarcity
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Scarcity is about the number of things available. The fewer of something available, the more desirable it is.
Jonah Berger
Author, Contagious
Hurry! Before it’s too late!
A few more details…
The offer
Countdown clock
Strikeout price x2
“Today only”
“Sold Out”
“Over 200 views today”
Star reviews
“Verified reviews”
Star reviews
Number of likes
Loss aversion
Priming / anchoring
Loss aversion
Loss aversion
Social proof / loss aversion
Social proof
Social proof
Social proof
Social proof
Hurry! Before it’s too late!
Don’t worry. You can cancel later if you want.
Tell visitors what they’ll miss, risk or lose by not taking action now.
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Language of Scarcity and Loss
The Psychology of Website Visitors
6 Ways to
Leverage Loss/Safety
1. Rebates
2. Trial Periods
3. Free Samples
4. Early bird registration
5. Countdown Clocks
6. Limited Supply
Are you an optimist? Or a pessimist?
Baskerville…
Comic Sans…
“If a one kilometer asteroid had approached the Earth on a collision course at any time in human history before the early twenty-first century, it would have killed at least a substantial proportion of all humans.”
“If a one kilometer asteroid had approached the Earth on a collision course at any time in human history before the early twenty-first century, it would have killed at least a substantial proportion of all humans.”
Baskerville, the most credible font
The Psychology of Website Visitors
Thank you.
Reach out anytime.
Andy Crestodina
Co-founder / CMO
773.353.8301
andy@orbitmedia.com
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