The F7 Blog
Figureseven, Inc. has been helping businesses maximize their offline and online marketing efforts for over a decade. This blog provides insight, tips and advice from our experts to help you achieve your marketing goals.
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Oops, Facebook did it again!
By Jeremy Daly, President, Figureseven, Inc.
February 16, 2010 in Web Site Design, Information Architecture, Social Media, Usability
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
LinkedIn
Del.icio.usIt’s been a few weeks since Facebook launched another major change to their home page, and once again, it wasn’t without some public outcry. Almost a year ago when Facebook changed their site a self-sponsored poll found that over 94% of users disliked it. They eventually caved to user pressure and rolled back some of the changes. I guess people didn’t like the 1997-esque rounded corners on the profile pictures. Similarly, last October, Facebook released another set of design changes that altered the news feed! This even spurred a group called “PLEASE GIVE US OUR OLD NEWS FEED BACK!” that attracted well over half a million supporters.
I’ll admit that I too was frustrated by Facebook’s apparent disconnect with their users, but these previous modifications seemed to simply modify layouts and re-brand some of their features. It was easy for us to dislike those changes because it forced us to relearn something we were already very familiar with. This last update, however, went beyond mere visual and wording changes and actually appears to completely breakdown the site’s usability. Here are a few things that you may not have noticed, but from a usability standpoint, they are key factors in determining successful user experience.
New Olympic Logo Showcases Potential Pitfalls of Placement
By Aimee Belair, Creative Director, Figureseven, Inc.
December 11, 2009 in Web Site Design, Information Architecture, Usability, Branding
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Are Radio Listeners Getting to your Web Site?
By Jeremy Daly, President, Figureseven, Inc.
November 23, 2009 in Usability, Branding, Marketing
On my way into work this morning I heard a radio commercial for a company called Trupanion. I was only half paying attention when I heard a man’s voice say something like, “we had to have our cat put down…it was so sad…but it didn’t cost us anything.” As soon as I heard that you could have a cat put down for nothing, my ears perked up! (Just kidding, Lulu!)
Now that I was interested, I started listening more closely to the commercial. The voice then said, “Visit us online at (spelling out) T-R-U-P-A-N-I-O-N dot com.” Since I hadn’t heard the name of the company (which I assume they said at the beginning of the commercial), I had to really think about what they just spelled. Then the voice repeated it while I was trying to reconstruct the spelling in my head, which I think confused me even more. It wasn’t until the end of the commercial that he repeated the name of the company. Finally it clicked and it made sense.
Are You Sure Your Web Site Is in English?
By Greg Czarnowski, Principal, Figureseven, Inc.
October 21, 2009 in Web Marketing, Usability, Branding, Marketing
Did you ever notice how stilted the language seems to be on the web sites of certain European, Indian and Asian companies. It never ceases to amaze me that companies located in foreign countries have people from those countries create the "English" version of their web site. For anyone for whom English is a second language, grasping the nuances and verbal flow of our language can at times be a tricky proposition. Sometimes it involves punctuation errors, others times it is simply a misunderstanding and misapplication of the language. But too often, the result is content that is harder to read than it should be. If they care about the quality of the message they are delivering (and the subsequent sales that they hope to generate), then these companies should invest in having "a native" rewrite their web site in "English."
Don't Let Your Web Site be the Bluetooth Guy
By Jeremy Daly, President, Figureseven, Inc.
October 1, 2009 in Web Site Design, Usability
We’ve all seen him. There have been countless blog entries, tweets and Facebook post about him. Larry David even made fun of him on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ Yup, he’s the Bluetooth Guy! He’s the guy waiting in line at the sandwich shop who looks like he suffers from dissociative identity disorder. The guy that seems to be carrying on a full conversation with himself until you notice that he may have already been assimilated by the Borg. You might, at first, even think that he’s important since he has a 24/7 communication device seemingly wired into his skull. Then you can’t help but overhear his dissatisfaction of his fantasy football draft picks. There’s simply no getting around it. The Bluetooth guy is distracting, annoying and even with his flashy display of technology, is off-putting.
But wait a minute! I love my Bluetooth earpiece! As a matter of fact, I use it all the time in my car when I’m on my way to meetings or driving back and forth from the office. It’s hands-free! It’s a great technology. It makes my life easier and my driving safer! So how come such an amazing technology like Bluetooth can be so annoying to most of us? The answer is simple: too many people overuse it and, more importantly, they use it in the wrong place!
What's your Call to Action?
By Scott Devlin, Director of Business Development, Figureseven, Inc.
September 28, 2009 in Web Site Design, Web Marketing, Information Architecture, Usability, Marketing
Many companies focus only on content and design when developing their website. I agree that those are very important parts of a successful web strategy, but just as important is your site having a Call to Action. A Call to Action is the action you want your visitors to take when they visit your site. Below are a couple of tips to think about to make your Call to Action more effective.
- Make it Easy to Find: Locate it on your Home Page. It doesn’t matter the type of website you have, if you do not have a Call to Action on your homepage you will miss out on potential business. Many ecommerce websites like Amazon.com will allow you to start buying right on the home page.
- Give an Incentive: The most important thing is that your Call to Action is directed towards your target market. If you can give useful information that helps build brand awareness, that may be the greatest incentive you can give. It needs to be something that makes them want to find out more about you.
- Cleary Define the Action: Having a button that reads “Get a Quote” or "Click Here for a Free SEO Analysis" will be more effective than just a button that says "Contact Us."
- Make them Buy the Cow: If you want to give away proprietary information such as whitepapers or webinars, don't just let them download them for free. Protecting intellectual property with a simple gateway form that requires registration with an email address will help to build up your contact list.
Ultimately, you can use your website to increase business. Following these simple web guidelines will help increase your likelihood for success.
Are you excited about your website?
By Melissa DeLorenzo, VP of Marketing, Figureseven, Inc.
July 9, 2009 in Search Engine Optimization, Web Site Design, Web Site Management, Information Architecture, Usability
If you’re not, can you expect your potential customers to be? Consumers use the web – this is a given. This is where they get their information. From news to what’s going on with their favorite sports teams to where they buy their goods – people find what they want on the Internet. The quality of your site is crucial to the success of your business. Here are five essential elements of good web design that are the most important to viewers.
Visual Appeal
Your site needs to be clean and attractive. A website is a visual medium and, simply put, needs to look good. Don’t let your graphics outshine or clutter your message – keep it clear but eye-catching, making sure your marketing message is at the core of your design.
Revisiting online search techniques
By Aimee Belair, Creative Director, Figureseven, Inc.
June 23, 2009 in Technical Information, Usability
To improve your search engine results on a topic, try the following:
To search for an exact phrase, enclose it all in quotation marks. For example, type in the phrase mathematical help into your search bar of choice and view the results. Now go back and type in "mathematical help" and notice the change in results. This method is called phrase searching.
Why Distorted Text is Costing You Money!
By Jeremy Daly, President, Figureseven, Inc.
May 15, 2009 in Technical Information, Web Site Design, Usability
I’d venture a guess that a majority of Internet users have never heard the term CAPTCHA, but I’m pretty certain they’ve all seen it! CAPTCHA, or Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, is that box of distorted text that makes you retype the letters before you can submit a form, post a comment to a blog, etc. While CAPTCHA can add much needed security to certain applications, it can also cause usability nightmares that not only frustrate users, but can turn them away for good!
