Designing A Website Is Like Running For Election

byacademyofspi

904 followers

Updated 8 years ago

It's fall in the USA, the first Tuesday in November is always election day. Here in Washington State we have a mail in ballot so you can vote from home it your own time, and mail it back in by the due date.

Today I was reading the voters pamphlet about what the candidates had written. I was getting bored, and letting my mind wander, then it occurred to me that designing a website is exactly like running for election.

Website psychology is a fairly recent science and study, since it came in with the internet, of course. It has produced some very interesting statistics and information, that the average internet user would never guess. It is extremely important to know about website psychology studies when designing a website, so that the best choices can be made for the best outcome of the website.

When a candidate decides to run for an elected office they usually ask someone who has spent years studying political science to run their campaign and help them make the right moves. The moves made by a political candidate, the things that are said and the way they present themself will have a great effect on whether they get elected or not.

The exact same is true for building a website. What you say, how you say it and how you present it determines whether a visitor stays on your website and engages with it or they quickly leave never to return again.

It is a well known statistic among website designers that a new visitor stays an average of 15 seconds before they decide to stay and investigate more, or leave and never return. 15 seconds!!!! That isn't much time. They can not read anything much in those seconds. Here's an article about the 15 second information from Hubspot:

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/chartbeat-websit...

To get the most impact of those 15 seconds position your main idea, or point, above the fold, as they say in the printed news business. Right there, front and center, get to the point immediately. Headlines get attention. Also, use a picture that demonstrates what you are offering and shows happy people.

The goal of a political candidate is to get the average voter to be interested enough to take a look at their point-of-view in the voters pamphlet. The job of a properly done website home page is to get the visitor interested enough in the first few seconds to want to go deeper and find out more.

The #1 rule is: Do not assume that what you like will be pleasing to anyone else!

Most people want to design their website to reflect what they like. The colors and appearance should look like them, right? NO! The point of any website is not to entertain or please the website owner, or to show who the owner is. The point of the website is to interest the visitor enough that they want to know more about the business or information presented on the website. If the visitors interest is not captured in the first 15 seconds they will go elsewhere. So it is worth it to make your website be as attractive as possible to the audience you are trying to reach.

Color is very important. Color needs to be used in a way that attracts people rather than repels them. For that purpose blue and green (in lighter hues) are the only colors that are attractive to both genders. Blue is also a color that denotes stability and strength. Have you ever noticed how many financial companies use blue in their logo? Strength and stability is why.

Before designing a website it is very important to choose a color scheme based on the audience you are wanting to attract and the message you want your audience to see. Do some research on Website Color Psychology here is a great article to start with from KissMetics.com:

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/psychology-of-color-a....

Another very important element is the use of photos. The primary photo on the home page is going to be the very first thing that the visitor sees, judges and uses to decide if they are going to stay or leave. So it needs to say a lot. Make a wise choice. Some website owners make the site's main photo a picture of themself. Which rarely says anything about what the site is there to do, or to offer. Using a photo that you buy from an online stock photo retailer that demonstrates what the website is offering is a much better choice. You want to use that prime website real estate space to sell your service, not identify who you are. You can put a photo of yourself on the About Me page, which is where most people would go to see your photo anyway. Search Google for: How to use images effectively in website design. Here is a good article to start with from 1st Web Designer:

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/images-on-web-design...

So whether we are talking about running for a political office or designing a website they are very similar and require time and investigation about the proper way to make a presentation that will get the desired attention of the audience. The outcome of your efforts will be told from the vote. The political candidate learns the results of the vote very soon after election day. While the website owner learns the effectiveness of their campaign day-by-day as the website produces interest, or it doesn't. The best part is that the website owner gets the opportunity to modify their website as needed, unlike the politician who only gets one shot at it.

Spend the time to do the job right and you will get the outcome that you desire.

My Best Wishes to your website's success.

by, Wendy Mae, Ph.D.
Academy of Spirit