In this age of quick-attention span infosumption, it's important that we understand the art of thin-slicing; trusting our gut on-the-fly when landing on a web page for the first time.
Much like having your contact email being the ever popular "info@", not having your face and name, not providing relevant outbound links, and having an overload of ads and pop-ups will be a sure way to keep readers from coming back. It screams, "I'm in this space for me first."
So from positions of both reader and writer, ask these questions on a thin slice:
- What are you Hiding? - I want to see your name, face, AND contact info on the first page I land and preferrably "above the fold.' Some folks ask about an "about page" or a form to fill out for contact. Put yourself in the user's mouse. Would you consider that practice convenient for the user? Didn't think so. Don't hide. There are some great sites that still make it difficult to find face/name/contact. I'm not calling them out – though what are you hiding for?
- What are you Hoarding? – If on the scroll, I see no outbound links, I'll go elsewhere. Most sites that practice resource hoarding (lots of newspapers do this), are using the old example of the early web when we didn't know what the "back" button was — and didn't want to lose eyeballs. Now, a quick way to lose eyeballs is to NOT share links and resources. Remember, Blog Posting Mantra No.4?
- What are you Hawking? - Oh the pain in the eyeballs, those flashing ad banners; those pop-up "subscribe to me" floating crap game ads. Slowly I turn, step-by-step, hitting the back button. Subtle ads? Ok. Content relevant ads? That actually helps me. Overt, in-my-face, advertising that serves only the publisher. Adios!
As a reader – on a quick blink, more often than not, you can tell whether a site will provide solid information, has authority, and will engage in a conversation (and possibly act reciprocally).
As a writer – What will your readers thin-slice about your site? Avoid them saying, "WTH?"
Related Elsewhere:
- CopyBlogger: Do People Really Want Transparency & Authenticity?
- The Blog Herald: Authenticity and Transparency in the Real World
- Mashable: The Do's and Dont's of Sharing
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