Stripe Blog

The Science of Form Usability

Matt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:51:54 +0000

Although quite an old video (and hence old advice), the majority of webmasters still communicate to their users like they are robots. The video explains that this doesn’t have to be the case and that changing your tone can significantly improve the tedious task of filling in forms.

Ryan Singer has a brilliant take on web UI and has had a huge impact on my design techniques and opinions.

Backyard Web Design

Matt — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:29:25 +0000

Have you ever given your business’ website to a close friend or relative to create? Have you ever thought that it is so much cheaper to get your nephew who knows someone with a computer to make a new logo for the large financial company you own?

If so, have you considered the cost this may have in the long term for your marketing strategy?

Every webpage on the internet can be treated like a house. There are some good ones, some bad ones, some mansions and some empty blocks. Your own webpage should be considered as important as your house to reap the full benefits of marketing online.

“But Matt!” you might say. “Why would I consider a bunch of files on a server somewhere more important than the bricks and mortar that harbor my kin?”

Well have a think about the amount of money generated by online marketing and sales per year. The exact figure is impossible to determine but I can be sure it is in the billions. Now if you have a website that could take even a fraction of a percentage of that, you can see why there should be a lot of care taken in the creation and management of such an important tool.

Backyard web design will in the short term save you money but the end result will not be as effective as you think. Being keen to invest in a good web campaign from the get go will not only allow experts in the field to create you a strong online identity, but give you a beach front mansion reach your target market and beyond.

Copywriting for SEO purposes

Matt — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:40:38 +0000

Every Search Engine Optimisation page on the web will preach the importance of good copy writing to increase your websites traffic, and this post is no exception. However, over analysing your copy will almost always results in the opposite effect you are trying to achieve.

Firstly, to understand the SEO/conversion process is to understand why you write content in the first place. Many people claiming to understand search engine optimisation will tell you to drop a few keywords here, and a few more keyword there. By the end of this process you end up with content resembling a late night rug discount warehouse ad – Get your rugs! Rugs right here! Rugs! Rugs! Rugs!

When optimising a website there should be only one audience kept in mind, the users. If the users are overlooked, the result will be a website that drives a lot of traffic, but the content will turn potential clients off and thus the site will be useless. Remember a website is only as good as its conversions, not its traffic.

The key to writing successful content for the web is to tell the truth. If you write exactly what your company does and the services it provides the ‘keywords’ will come automatically. This will also allow for words that you may not have thought of to come through which may drive not only more traffic to the website, but targeted traffic looking for exactly what you provide.