Scientific Research

Now, I’m admittedly not a research scientist, but I do respect those who’ve spent decades studying conversion data (which measures how consumers perceive and use online marketing assets that comprise digital marketing as a profession).

Design standards for most website projects should at some point take into review and consideration the painstaking and in-depth study conducted by the faculty at Stanford University‘s Web Credibility Project and its Persuasive Technology Laboratory, which both in varying capacities look at consumer behavior trends over prolonged periods of time.

From setting specific guidelines for website design and development, to laying the groundwork for what we now call “funnel design,” these are two very impressive scholarly sources of ample guidance on how websites should be designed and formatted.

Industry Norms

When we look at industry norms, we’re referring to medium-to-large digital marketing agencies in major global hub cities such as Toronto, Boston, Atlanta, New York, LA, Paris, Mexico City, and of course many others, in which artistic innovation occurs, new techniques are being attempted and tested, and new design standards are being determined step-by-step. It used to be that there were publications experienced professional developers and designers could read such as “Web Designer,” “.Net,” “CNet,” and a handful of others. Sadly, most seem to no longer in print and transitioning to online only, but like the online Smashing Magazine site, there are plenty of solid, reputable industry magazines or journals online we can refer to to study innovations in design, best practices, new practices, coding advancements, SEO, eCommerce vendors, and the like to be more fully informed and also communicate with others in the field so the work we create should not ever be throwing rice at the wall and seeing what sticks but based on daily insights.

Larger (and More Profitable) Competitors

When screening and subsequently onboarding new clients, it’s imperative to always familiarize oneself with who their larger, more profitable competitors are so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Every business type in the world, whether it’s an accountant working from a home office or an enterprise-level company with fifty or more employees and multiple offices, to the local dentist of electrician, has larger, more profitable and established competitors who’ve already laid the groundwork you’re thinking of one day traversing. There’s simply no need to test new designs and approaches when they’ve already been tested and proven; and we learn what these approaches are by looking from a distance at what these competitors have done and are doing now.

We can base design (not too closely for obvious reasons) on a consortium or comparison of a “top” three to four designs for their most standout online presences. We should be looking at not only design, but formatting (again the famous “funnel design” standard-bearer), layout, colors used, fonts, types of giveaways, menu options, how contact forms are offered, all the way to number of pages, page titles and content. In marketing it’s the old “piggyback” or “mirroring” approach where we’d look at others in similar or complementary overlapping industries in neighboring major cities or larger cities and learn from industry stalwarts. Now, yes, it’s possible (and perhaps even probable), that many small or new business owners will opine that they have no competitors. This is nothing more than them just not being informed – since intellectually we know that no business is truly so new as to not have at least a few competitors. I’ve also heard business owners or hobbyists suggest they searched but couldn’t find any competitors anywhere in the world and again; just just before, they probably just don’t know where to begin looking or see the relevance in the examination. That’s where experienced professionals have to guide that discussion to articulate the value in studying larger competitors and for learning by their examples so there’s a clearly-defined path for moving forward.

Funnel Design

Funnel design refers to the layout that a typical business website should use where content is written (albeit from a marketer’s perspective) where the most important information is listed first at the top and then lesser, more minor information is listed in content in descending order.

In journalism we start with the inverted pyramid style of writing with the captivating headline used first, a front or first paragraph highlighting key details to follow, key figures involved, what you as a concerned reader should take away, and then followed by paragraphs extolling more background material with each paragraph listing less and less important information until it finally concludes in an ending paragraph (and usually listing the reporter’s contact information). Just about every profit-driven business website today is built with the funnel or inverted pyramid style for composition and design a part of its core in some kind of primary capacity, and that’s because as industry norms have indicated, scientific research and even a cursory analysis of larger competitors will show, it’s commonly practiced and works to guide consumers from passive interest toward specific Calls To Action.

Color and Font

As you might have guessed already, there’s quite a great deal of research when it comes to how color psychology impacts user behavior as well into font use. In most instances, by studying larger and more profitable competitors, referring to industry trade magazines or the work of major digital marketing agencies, or by referring to an established ivy league University as Stanford, we’re going to see the common color palettes and fonts used for appropriate business types (for example using Comic Sans for an authoritative, serious-minded business site would be like featuring pet photos on the first page of that same site it undos any credibility that might have been established elsewhere quickly). According to a 2006 study conducted by the University of Winnipeg, color psychology influenced 90% of a consumer’s view of your company website; which is a percentage too large to leave to chance or impulse. Some classic examples of color psychology in action are the common red shades used to tell energetic consumers to “stop” and pay attention for brands from Coca Cola, Netflix, Target, Levi’s, Cannon, and Xerox to the yellows used by Best Buy, Bic, and Shell to appeal to those consumers who are more impulsive.

When it comes to font use, we can select the best font for ease of readability (we don’t want an informational site to have complex fonts for example) or perception of honesty so that the more simple and direct a font is, the more direct its use can be seen. Slanted fonts convey sense of movement, while straight up and down fonts convey stability, and more complex fonts can convey artistic flair. We need to pick the right font for the right business type just as we do for color.

Bringing It All Together

To summarize, it’s important for digital marketing professionals and website designers in particular to articulate how and why their decisions on color, layout, and font are informed by science, larger industry standard-bearers, creative innovation tested and tried by established marketing agencies in major global hub cities, and scientific research.

Do the industry standards and norms apply to all cases? No, of course not, just as business norms don’t adhere to all types of companies. I’m retired, so my love of blue and designs don’t match what I’d produce were I interested in presenting a standard bearer brand; or for that matter what did produce while freelancing or building a small agency years ago. I still loved blue, but my use of that preference was more restrained and was similar to larger competitors as discussed previously.  The “rules” exist as guides, as railings if you will, so designers and developers know what a site meant for a specific purpose can and should resemble; not as make or break mandatory requirements. Some creative agencies shirk the norms in favor of setting themselves apart. Some sites such as Craigslist or even Google itself, have very minimal designs (or as in the case with Craiglist) design that could be radically updated and made more mobile-responsive. Yet because they are both industry powerhouses well-established, they pretty much do as they want with Craigslist’s obvious viewpoint being “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Kow the rules, the norms, the guidelines, the larger competitor standards and practices to better inform decisions.  Clients who are business owners need to know decisions are made on logic and accepted standards – not whims.

By doing this not only can we prevent needlessly wasted time with endless revisions or clients feeling lost or uninformed by their chosen contractors, we also better represent ourselves as committed professionals who can help our clients build superior marketing representations online in an age when online adaptability can truly make or break a business.