Studies Show That Web Surfers Do Scroll!
Written By : Clifford Blodgett
Financial advisors who are harnessing the power of digital marketing have caught onto something big: They know that by offering compelling content, they can create a loyal audience of followers who frequently convert to valuable clientele.
We focus quite a bit on the content, because content is a huge key to your digital marketing success. But it’s also important to remember that how your content is displayed will often influence whether your audience gives you a few moments of their time.
What we’re talking about is the design of your website. In particular…
Will your audience scroll down to check out all of your content?
Luckily, marketing firms perform this research for us, so that all you have to do is analyze and implement their findings. One such firm recently tested 48 participants, hoping to discover how to best encourage website viewers to scroll down “below the fold”. In layman’s terms, they wanted to see how to get readers to read the entire article.
The study tested four design versions:
- a control image, with no visual cues to scroll
- an arrow which visually instructed users to scroll down
- a short image, which forced users to scroll to see all content in its entirety
- an animated image in which a moving element led viewers to scroll down
The results were encouraging for website designers. For the control image, the arrow, and the short image, nearly all (91-92 percent) of the participants scrolled and reached the bottom. Only the animated image showed slightly less-than-ideal results, with 91 percent scrolling but only 73 percent reaching the bottom.
So what does this tell us about visual scrolling cues?
Primarily, that you should develop and use visual cues that fit with the overall design of your website. You aren’t locked into one particular cue design here, so you have some freedom to choose one that is most pleasing to the eye.
As always, keep content as your main concern. Your cue should not block images, video, or text. The cue should integrate with your existing elements, not take priority above them. If you’re designing a website, include a visual cue to scroll if it works for your overall design. But don’t make the cue so central to your design efforts that you lose sight of what’s truly important: your content.
Filed under: Financial Advisor Marketing
Written By : Clifford Blodgett
Clifford Blodgett is the Director of Digital Marketing and Demand Generation at Creative One. He is integral in financial advisor interactive communications strategies, website management, social media, content marketing , and overall demand generation.