Site Emphasis

Site Emphasis, Site Emphasis, Site Emphasis, say that three times fast. Your site needs to stay on topic to achieve the desired action. I learned that little tip from Jakob’s website, and it was a lesson that I will never forget. Keep your site focused, and your visitors will be able to see what you see.

I was asked to write a review about North London PC Repair, and I have to  appoligize. It’s going to be a lesson in keeping your site focused. Does this giant screen shot I took from their home page look like PC repair?

Nope…It’s a Boss Cart eCommerce ad. Ads to webmasters are important. It’s how we make money. Unfortunately in this case the ad is overwhelmingly huge, and kills the sites emphasis. The site was initially designed for a PC repair company in North London. Unfortunately the message is half way lost. I say halfway because that is about how big the Boss Cart Ad is. Site Emphasis is the second thing I check for when doing my usability analysis. When we design a website there are a lot of ways we can confuse a visitor. Giant ads that match site content isn’t confusing, is borderline misleading. Make a point to keep your site focused, and make the ads clearly ads as well.

When Picking your ads, or deciding whether or not to have ads on your site, make sure they don’t confuse the main message. Let your site be clear, and your ads (be clear that they are ads that is).