Create action, measure success

Every web page should incite an action from your reader. A strong call to action makes broswing simple and keeps objectives in focus. For each page you create, ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of the page?
• What do I want the reader to do next?
• How can I measure the success?

If you can’t answer these questions then you can’t measure the quality or success of your page. The objective of the page should be the first specification you define. After all, if the page doesn’t have a purpose, why are you planning a page at all?

MindMeister – Easter Egg Hunt

MindMeister Easter Egg

The Easter newsletter from MindMeister is a great example of an e-newsletter designed to incite reader response. They hid an Easter Egg on their site. When found, the egg rewarded a discount code offering up to 50% off a pro account.

It was a simple newsletter with a very clearly defined objective – Get the reader onto the MindMeister website. During the egg hunt they can be sold the benefits of a pro account. The response, and therefore success, of the newsletter is easily measurable:

• Increased page views
• High page views per visit
• Increased sales of pro accounts

Simply provoking a response is a powerful measure of success. I received dozens of Easter special newsletters, but this was the only one that provoked a response. Although I didn’t buy a pro account, the newsletter prompted me to make an unscheduled visit to the site, creating a sales opportunity that otherwise would not have existed.

Gaia Online – Huge Amazing Button

The Gaia Online "Huge Amazing Button"

The Gaia Online homepage clearly knows its objective and isn’t shy about achieving it. The unmissable sign up button perfectly demonstrates that in no way do you have to be discreet and disguise your objective from your reader. Honesty is key; most people will allow you to guide their behaviour, as long as your intentions and their benefits are clearly defined.

The success of the sign up button is easily measured. I expect that before the huge button, a new visitor to the site would have explored the ‘World’ or ‘Community’ pages to get an idea about what Gaia Online is and what they’re signing up for, and inevitably some visitors would drop out along the way. I foresee that:

• Behaviour of new visitors would change – new visitors will sign up using that homepage link, without browsing other areas of the site.
• Total number of signups would have increased, fewer levels of navigation means less people dropping out.

Keep focus, stick to your objective

Set out your objective early, and stick to it. Future decisions on what to include and what to cut will be easy to make. Remove any text that doesn’t actively promote the desired action. Doing so will make your site easier to read and increase the chance the reader will follow the desired action, leaving you with a happy reader and happy web stats.