Yes it’s that famous phrase that just doesn’t tell the whole story. Whether you have an on-line or off-line presence for your business, you will have the lookers passing through. But we all know that everyone has some kind of interest, some kind of purpose, in “looking”. And the strategy you adopt in response will make all the difference in whether you make them stop looking or not.
For starters, it is important to let them keep looking. People like visiting websites because they can do so in an unencumbered fashion. No disruptions. No dialogue required. No one hovering over them. And no one peppering them with questions. It means allowing them to focus on the content and decide for themselves. Your website visitors need to be in control of the visit. The instant that the website is forceful, it changes the whole dynamic.
Recently, I can’t help but notice the increase in the anxiousness with which the sign-up forms are popping up. I thought that the days of the pop-up were over. But there seem to be an increasing number of blogs that hit you with the sign-up form before you have had much chance to take a bight out of the content, never mind being able to digest it. Presumably the reasoning for marketers who employ this strategy is the fact that attention is so fleeting, they have to jump in quickly. But if they haven’t captured any real attention, what is the point really?
This rapid and overzealous sign-up request does not seem that much different than a paywall. There is no monetary transaction, but it is not conducive to creating that positive user experience, which everyone wants. It has both a disruptive and smothering effect on the visitor, and in fact I would say that it tarnishes the brand image of the website. Even though the content may be quite good, this act of wrestling away the sign-up info (often by making it a challenge to find the clickable button to close the window), just does not reflect well on the brand.
Well, you may believe that it is all a numbers game with more subscribers translating to more real customers. But it is not that simple. What is key is the number of active followers. That is, the ones who are interested enough to regularly follow new content. To stay engaged at some level. As opposed to followers who forget they even signed up.
A good user experience to a website is not that different from a good user experience to an off-line facility. Visitors do not want to be completely smothered, nor do they want to be completely ignored. In both cases, the content must be organized and presented in a manner that engages. Windows that appear in the sidebar with courteous offers of communication (and where the visitor doesn’t suffer any significant disruption), are likely to be much better received.
As opposed to rushing for the sign-up and risking the turn-off effect, the focus must be on providing additional content that has a higher level of value than the posted content. If the visitor has come to your site in search of information related to their problem, there must first be a level of satisfaction with the content that is openly posted. Only then can there be a real consideration of whether to hand over that closely guarded contact information. Website visitors know quite well, if they fork out that email address, more content is bound to follow. And they will choose not to take the first step at all if the persuasion is not effective.