02 Sep 13 12:32 am
Hi Nigel,
I'm seeing a couple of changes (I think) to your page, mostly in that comparison table, but it's still looking way too busy for me to make any sense of it.
Handy hint: When you emphasise EVERYTHING you emphasise NOTHING. It is a shouting match.
If you were to put a heatmapping tool (eg CrazyEgg) onto a page with your comparison table, you would find that people are clicking on every single one of those icons in that table, regardless of whether they're clickable links or not. Because it's impossible to tell, and they're all competing with each other for visual prominence.
Ask yourself this: If your visitor only had the mental capacity to understand ONE item from that comparison table (eg, price, star rating, the fact that they can read reviews, or the "visit website" link).... which is the one you would want them to see and understand?
What is the MOST IMPORTANT column in that table?
Now I'm going to be a bit more generous. I'll actually let you have THREE important columns. THREE pieces of information that would allow them to make a decision on which host to read more about. Which are the most important? What do you think your readers are MOST concerned about?
I'm not saying you have to ditch all the rest. I'm saying that they need to be de-emphasised. Made smaller. Made less brightly coloured. Made less 3-dimensional. Made to look less like a button. Perhaps even turned into words, rather than icons that require an additional brain step to interpret. They're there for anyone who is interested, but they're not the main focus.
De-emphasise the UNIMPORTANT things so that the IMPORTANT things stand out more.
Now take this same theory and apply it to your whole page. What are the MOST IMPORTANT things that you want to draw people's attention to? Imagine you only get to choose five things. Imagine you have to pay your visitor a buck for each place you want them to look, and you've only got five bucks to spend. What are the FIVE most important things you can get them to look at that will help you get that sale? Some ideas:
1) Something that lets them know that they're in the right place
2) Something that lets them know what they can do on this page (read reviews? Compare hosting providers?)
3) Something that they can click to visit the product you're talking about
4) Something that tells them why it's good
5) Something that tells them they can trust your opinion
I'm mixing my analogies like nobody's business, but I hope you get what I mean. If I need to spend too much time trying to figure out what in the sam hill you're wanting me to look at, I'm just going to hit the back button and try to find some page with something easier to understand.
Your homepage is the worst offender here, rather than your actual review pages. SOOOOO many banners! SOOOOO many chicks! I'm counting twelve female faces on your homepage, and a couple of good-lookin dudes as well.
I have nothing against good-lookin chicks or dudes, but a face is going to draw anyone's attention at the expense of the surrounding content. That's why so many banners and websites use pictures of chicks and dudes.
So the
TL;DR of this is:
Simplify your page so I can actually understand it! Once I understand it, THEN I'll be interested in clicking through to check out your recommendations. At the moment all your good content is getting lost in a sea of bright shiny objects.
