You Should Follow Me on Twitter
The exact words you choose on the Web can have a huge impact on behaviour. Finding the right combination of words takes testing and a focus on the action.
Dustin Curtis creates user interfaces. He’s a creative type. I knew that as soon as I visited his website because he uses a black background. That’s very creative. It’s amazing how many creative types use the exact same black background to tell the rest of us that they are creative and have a very individual approach to design.
It’s hard to read what Dustin writes on this black background; gave me a bit of a headache actually. But that’s okay. I had a great overall experience of the page because its black background communicated an important emotional, aesthetic thing to me.
Seriously, it’s a bit of a pity Dustin makes it so hard to read his stuff because what he has to say is quite interesting. At the end of his articles, Dustin has a short, humorous bio. In this bio he has tested a variety of ways to request people to follow him on Twitter.
The first one he tested contained the following within his bio: “I’m on Twitter.” (with the “Twitter” as the link) That had a conversion rate of 4.7 percent. Then he tried: “Follow me on Twitter.” (with the Twitter as the link). This had a conversion rate of 7.3 percent. Next up was: “You should follow me on Twitter” (with “Twitter” as the link). The conversion was 10.1 percent. Next, Dustin tried the following approach (I’m showing you the whole bio).
My name is Dustin Curtis
I make user interfaces and experiences. I am 8,227 days old. You should follow me on twitter here. You can learn more about me in my about article and on my less interesting blog.
In the above approach, “here” was the link. This had a conversion rate of 12.8 percent. This is very interesting stuff and shows the benefits of testing. However, here are a few observations. I’ve found that the most effective links are written like headings, not part of sentences at all. I’ve found that putting links in sentences reduces readability and clickability. I’ve also found that using blue text and underlining the link immediately makes it obvious that it is a link.
The problem is, of course, that it’s hard to have blue and underline when you have a black background. Isn’t it amazing how many designers hate underline? They think it’s ugly, that it takes away from the look of the page.
Have you read any grey books recently? I mean, have you read any books that use grey text or that have black backgrounds? Or, for that matter, have you read any print newspapers or magazines that use grey text? It’s well documented that it’s harder to read on a screen than in print. So why do designers deliberately create webpages that make reading even harder? Simple, really. Many web designers are more concerned with how the page looks than how it reads and functions.
Strange though it may seem to some, the number one activity on the Web is reading.
Stefanie Voss says:
Added on November 1st, 2009 at 7:11 pmGreat article!!
Concerning links usability I would like to share this recent experience: I work as web strategy and web concept concultant and one of my friends (a lawyer) had a website designed from a ‘great designer’. He wanted my opinion on it.
Links were shown exactly in the same text style as all the rest of the text. Only your mouse changed from arrow to the hand when you went over it.
When I asked him why they had decided to do that, he said: “My designer strongly recommended that, because it makes the design clearer and makes the page look more elegant and formal, good for lawyers…” Can you BELIEVE it???
When will web usability finally be an ESSENTIAL part of any web design class??? On the other hand, stuff like that brings me my clients, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining…
Gerry McGovern (blog author) says:
Added on November 1st, 2009 at 9:28 pmStefanie, glad you liked it. Does the site in question still do that? Do you have a link to it? Gerry
Recruitment Manchester says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 9:44 amGerry I just visited Dustin Curtis’ site and my first impression was, “what’s Gerry on about, it isn’t that bed”. Oh, but then I got halfway down the page and my head started to ache a little as my eyes started to squint.
I’ve been fighting, what seems to be a losing battle for years with designers, and what Stephanie writes above is generally the norm.
At present I’m battling gizmo’s, one designer is adamant that all the sites he builds - which I end up attempting to optimise, should have a multitude of gizmo’s, from swirling favicon, clock ticking in top corner, buttons flashing &c. What he doesn’t seem to realise is that all the wonderful JavaScript needed to generate such fun brings my computer to a staggering halt.
Oh for a clean & quick website.
Clare Swindlehurst says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 10:03 amInteresting article Gerry. I personally wouldn’t use the ‘here’ option as it goes against everything I have learned about the Disability Discrimination Act and use of screen readers.
I was intrigued to see that he didn’t test you should follow me on Twitter (which is what I would have done) and wonder how that would have converted.
I agree about the use of blue and underlining for links - everyone recognises that. I get frustrated with sites that don’t use the universal signage for links - its almost like a city council deciding to make all of their Stop signs at junctions as a circle with a blue symbol!
Oh and as for white text on black backgrounds? I instantly click away!
Clare
Clare Swindlehurst says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 10:04 amJust noticed my formatting didn’t pull through. I would have made the whole sentence a link:
you should follow me on Twitter
ie the entire call to action is the link
Paul Biggins says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 12:05 pmExcellent article.
But…I’m guilty as charged!
In designing other peoples’ websites, I follow all the readability rules and insist that links are obvious, text is clear, layout is uncluttered, navigation is intuitive, etc, etc.
And then, in designing my own photographic website (www.pb-photography.co.uk), I’ve gone for black! Partly because black looks ‘arty’, and partly because the Picasa3 software (which generates the gallery pages, thumbnails and low res images automatically from a folder of images - rather neat!) lets me do it. And it looks good! But then…how many galleries do you know with black walls??? Successful presentation is about framing and lighting; wall colour (i.e. screen colour) needs to be neutral.
Slapped wrists! I shall do an urgent redesign tonight…
Geoff says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 1:45 pmWhile I’m not certain of the methodology used for the test, could part of the click-through increase correlate to the increase of twitter’s popularity?
Did Dustin go back and re-test his original sentence to see if the click-through rate returned to previous low levels?
Gerry McGovern (blog author) says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 pmPaul, my own web-based newsletter used to have a black background. I’ve made all the mistakes–and more than once! Gerry
terry hanabarger says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 pmExcellent point about black background and blue print as a person that has vision problems. i have experimented with background color and have black with a white background and a 14 pt trebuchet is easy to read without eye strain, by the way your information is very useful, thanks again terry
Gerry McGovern (blog author) says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pmClaire, I was surpised to by the “here” usage. I tink it might have something to do with it being at the end of an active sentence. I would not use “here” but rather make the call to action a link.
Gerry McGovern (blog author) says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 2:57 pmGeoff, interesting point about re-testing.
Oh, those gizmos that move. Part of an interactive strategy, I’m sure. Whenever I hear the phrase: “We need to make our site more interactive,” I have a strong desire to reach for the puke bucket.
Gerry McGovern (blog author) says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 3:00 pmTerry, I have reasonably good eyesight. I can only imagine how much more difficult a black background is for those with vision problems. It’s a real shame that so many designers as so much more interested in posing than in helping people complete tasks.
Vince says:
Added on November 2nd, 2009 at 7:38 pmReaders of this blog,
Don’t be so naive. I’m sure Gerry is very talented and sensitive to design and usability but frankly I don’t think he represents it in his own website. Design is what separates an exceptional site from an average site. A well designed and usable website fosters credibility, much more so than a site with ill constructed hyperlinks. Pay attention to detail and get useful feedback along the way.
AJ Kandy says:
Added on November 6th, 2009 at 3:37 pmUm, when I go to DustinCurtis.com, I get a white page with black text links to each of his blog posts. Each of them is art-directed differently (similar to how Jason Santa Maria does his site), in keeping with the subject matter of the post. Out of 19 posts, 3 have black or very dark backgrounds and 1 has a semi-dark background (the personal timeline post). The remaining 15 posts all have either light text areas inside a darker background, or are dark text on a light background, and eminently readable. About the only one that isn’t easy to read is the “Dear Dustin Curtis” response from the AA.com designer, ironic as it is one of his most-linked, but the majority are fine. I rather wish you had looked at the rest of his site to determine the facts before cursorily dismissing it based on one page.
jhoysi says:
Added on November 9th, 2009 at 8:53 pmWhat’s interesting in your post is the number of generalizations you are relying on to make sure the point that designers don’t understand usability comes across. Any designer worth his salt understands usability, and even further understands his/her role in making sure the site they are designing is appealing, functional, and produces results. That is what Web Design entails.
The notion that a designer’s job is simply to make a “page look nice” is not merely a generalization, it is downright false.
I really wish we’d get past the age where designers and usability experts are viewed as being on opposite sides of the fence. They are, ultimately, working toward the same goal: to provide the best possible online solution for a particular need.
Hal Doran says:
Added on November 11th, 2009 at 1:45 amToo funny. And too true.
Wish I could have written this in gray text (preferably AvantGarde font - lol) on a black background.
Click h r . Lol
Tom Devlin says:
Added on December 10th, 2009 at 2:42 pm“Pot calls kettle black” shocker.
Gerry, for someone who calls himself an “expert”, you really should know better Gerry: it’s not as black and white as you make out.
I found this a really short-sighted, poorly written argument to be honest.
Alex Railean says:
Added on July 5th, 2010 at 10:43 amIf you underline every link, links are easy to discover.
However, there is a side-effect - the page fills with clutter. All those lines are going to generate a lot of visual noise, making it difficult to interpret.
I think that the solution to the problem is to rely on colours - make all the links of the same colour, which is slightly different from the text itself.
Take a look at this site, not everything is consistent.
- “view pings and trackbacks” is red with underline
- the timestamp of each comment is violet underline
- comment author has no underline, bold blue
- items in the sidebars are not underlined and are gray
- post title has no underline and is bold dark violet
So, there are multiple factors involved, and all of them need to be considered:
- discoverability
- consistency
- visual noise