Landing Pages, SaaS, and 3 Seconds

re: Landing Pages, SaaS, and 3 Seconds

jhoskins — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:31:39 GMT

Some similar comment here:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4616700.stm

It is certainly all about 'blink of the eye' impressions which is why the top question I have always put into survey feedback is 'did you receive a favourable first impression?'.

Would be interested in some supporting research re: your comment about search being increasingly paid for. I personally believe it is all about the 'Golden Triangle:- http://www.eyetools.com/inpage/research_google_eyetracking_heatmap.htm and improving search return volume and accuracy through 'long tail' optimisation.

I also believe, based on experience, that you need to be taking an iterative approach that recognises where you are on the optimisation curve and web centricity curves. For instance, you may need sites or landing pages that are a bit more text heavy than you'd ideally like for a while if you are looking to drive your way up the free referral rankings. Once you have attained a stronger position you can develop a new iteration.

I would also suggest that 'web centric' users take a little bit longer and look a bit deeper to gain their first impressions. How up-to-date is the site? Are they a 'newsworthy' organisation? How deep and detailed does the information go? Do they have credible customer and partner relationships? For web centric users, a website is undoubtedly a window on that organisation's operation and you can learn a lot about how that organisation conducts its business from what you see or don't see on the site.

re: Landing Pages, SaaS, and 3 Seconds

abrooks — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:48:40 GMT

Here is an interesting commentary on click distribution and the Golden Triangle:

http://www.shimonsandler.com/?p=210

"Research conducted by iprospect ( page #15 ) indicate that 60.5% of clicks go to the Natural results. While 39.5% of the clicks go to the Paid Listings.

In a contradicting study conducted by Did-It & Enquiro, it was found that as search is more commercial in nature, the percentage of clicks going to paid search increases dramatically."

Remember that Commercial search is what SaaS providers care most about! These are business buyers they are targeting, not someone searching on pictures of Britney Spears. Further, even IF the distribution is 60% natural and 40% paid, think about how long it takes to get onto the 'front page' of Google search for a new SaaS provider. For businesses, marketing has a cost. Time if you want natural search results. Money if you want paid.

re: Landing Pages, SaaS, and 3 Seconds

jhoskins — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 12:37:58 GMT

Interesting feedback Andrew - thanks for sharing that.

You're absolutely right about the nature of the searching being relevant and I certainly wasn't suggesting that service providers abandon PPC. What seems to make most sense is a dual strategy that trades off time vs money as I imagine that serious service providers aren't just in this for the short term. Naturally, such a dual strategy will influence your site iterations and hence my comment about the SEO curve.

I think it is also worth not underestimating the importance of building a strong organic presence simply from the viewpoint of building credibility.

Bad Joseph! No Cake! (Part 1)

BizMediaScience — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:00:05 GMT

<font face="Verdana,geneva" size="2">Working on my Jan(Limpach)isms</font>