USING THE WEB FOR MARKETING

• Why the web is important

• Know your audience

• Tasks and links

• Creating great content

• Search engine optimisation

• How the Computer Centre can help

Is the web really important?

• First impressions

• Market research

• Everyone uses the web?

Getting the fundamentals right

• Web users are impatient!

• You have 8 - 20 second sell

• Practical, self-service environments

• Less is definitely more – avoid redundant information

• One clear message – spell it out

Know your audience

• Who are they?

A diverse audience

• What do they care about?

• What do they want to do?

• Can they do it on your website?

• Can they do it quickly?

• Calls to action

• Example of call to action…

• Is your website easily navigable?

• Is it well signposted?

• Keep it simple – web users suffer attention deficit syndrome!

• And keep the number of clicks down

Tasks and links

• A link is a promise

• Make your link clear – does it look like a link?

• Make sure web users can click your link and complete the task it promises…

I want to apply online for a PG programme

• Links set up an expectation that have to be fulfilled

• Links in body text are disruptive to the reading process

• People often automatically click on the first link – even when it’s not relevant

• Put them at the end of your content

Creating great content

Your message

• Strong compelling statement that is distinctive

New UoL homepage with new compelling statement

• Make sure it engages your audience – is it a call to action?

• But make sure it means something and says something about your department or university

• This will help with search engine optimisation

Care with words

• Words are important – they are often the first thing prospective students will come across about your department

• Does it do as it says on the tin?

• Writing links is as important as writing content

• What do words mean to people who won’t be familiar with your department?

• Don’t be vague!

Content

• Try not to use second hand content• PDFs take ages to open and don’t read

easily – they aren’t web content• Is your content out of date? • Dated content can make your website

look neglected• Make sure there is a point to content – a

call to action or link to more…

• Titles are important

• Make them clear and concise

• Eyetrack lll 2004: “Most people just look at the first couple of words – and only read on if they are engaged by those words.”

• So try not to begin a title with your name

• Keep titles less than 60 characters – good for search engine optimisation

Can people read content on your website?

• There is a good reason why newspapers are printed black upon white

• Reading computers screens is 25% harder than print

• So why make it harder?• Sans serif fonts (Arial, Verdana) are easier to

read – they have no curls!• Italics on screen don’t look great – they can

create de-emphasis

Images

• Images are part of your message so make sure they are compelling and relevant

• Ideally they are accompanied by words that are a call to action or act as a teaser…

COMPELLING

CLEAR

COMPLETE

COFFEE

Think about:

Workshop

• Your Department’s Web site• Other Agencies that you depend upon