What User's Want...
Site Development • What User's Want • Pricing • Portfolio
What people want online is a question you must know when designing and setting up a web site. Whether it's for research to purchase or just for fun, understanding what motives a user once he or she logs on is a necessity, meet their needs and watch business and activity on the site increase. But the experts don't seem to agree on what people want.
Some designers subscribe to the notion that people online are looking for entertainment on the Internet, and therefore they construct messages aimed at persuading while playing, building a flash based site complete with sound and video. Hard core marketers stick to the time-honored direct-response model: Grab them when you can, get 'em to take action, and then sell, sell, sell. The answer may be that the consumer has and wants a lot more control than we give them credit for.
Two recent independent studies shed light upon this quandary. Zatso conducted one; the Pew Research conducted the other. Both surveys shed some light on what people do online.
People want to accomplish something online. They are not aimless surfers hoping to discover a cybertreasure. Instead, the average web user turns out to be a goal-oriented person interested in finding information and communicating with others – in doing something he or she set out to complete.
A brief look at the result of these studies point toward the following:
- The number one use of online activity is e-mail, this quick method of keeping in touch and building and maintaining relationships.
- One third of the respondents reported that they read news online, with their interests centered on local news.
- Half were going online regularly to purchase products and services.
- Nearly 75 percent were going online in search of information about their hobbies or future purchases they are planning to make.
- Over half did educational research, and 54 percent were seeking data about health, medicine, or insurance.
- A surprising 47 percent regularly visited government web sites.
- And 38 percent researched job opportunities.
- The number one complaint, slow loading web sites or pages.
Let JC Consulting Services develop your web presence and watch your business grow!