Information Architecture and Eye Tracking

Check out this post that I wrote for a web marketing agency, on the effectiveness of Eye Tracking studies and Information Architecture: http://blog.jumpdigitalmedia.com/eye-tracking-and-ia/

Eye tracking is an area of web measurement that has always fascinated me. I don’t really know how companies like OneUpWeb are able to measure where the gaze of a person rests… are there special glasses that users wear, or perhaps they sit in something that looks like a MRI machine? Who knows (Google does!) – What’s important is that eye tracking as a science has contributed a great deal to the measurement of websites, and as a web professional, I am grateful!

Poor Guy!

I didn’t pay for the drilling service, because – as it turns out – it was this same shop who sold me the non-draining pots that would eventually drown my plants.

Seems strange that a plant shop would sell pots that could kill their plants, but that’s what happened. The very same thing happens in the world of Web development and social marketing. Since many of the tools on the Internet are free (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to name a few) and online tutorials on how to use them are abundant, it’s easy for a less-than-honest person to make claims of expertise that only years of experience can justify.

As a consumer, you need to do your due diligence when hiring someone to design, build, or market a website or other online presence. Check references, view a portfolio of work, ask for a rate sheet, whether there are any guarantees on the work, and what is included – and not included – in the scope of the work that will be done.

It’s important to research the company or individual who will be working with you. Web developers, designers, marketers, and managers are a dime a dozen. Good ones who know what they’re doing are hard to find!

A typical 405 Commute

While driving up the 405 freeway today in Southern California, I had some time to think about the answer to a particular question that I was recently asked.

If you’ve ever driven Southern California freeways, you’ll understand how time was something I had plenty of during my stop-and-go commute, as well as why the topic of traffic was on my mind.

In this case, however, the type of traffic in question was not the sun-soaked SoCal kind, but the online kind. The questioner wanted to know whether he needed to build a website for his small consulting business, or if it was enough to have a URL on Facebook and direct potential clients there.

The answer is pretty simple: While having a Facebook page is a critical part of your Web strategy, it’s not enough. You still need a ‘real’ website that contains information about you, your company, and how to contact you. The site can be super simple — one or two pages only — but should have well-written content, a strong IA, a compelling call to action, and be well-prepared for Google’s spiders.

It doesn’t have to be huge and expensive, but it does have to be ‘there’. Without it, you are not realizing your online potential.