I’ve resisted signing up for Amazon Prime, mostly out of animus toward Jeff Bezos. (I don’t need to explain why I despise him, do I?)
I do buy from Amazon -- but I always try to find another seller first.
A few weeks ago, however, the offer of free shipping was just too tempting. I gave in and signed up for a month’s free trial of Amazon Prime.
O.MI.GOD. I get it now.
I haven’t fully explored all the benefits but I get it.
It’s seamless. It’s easy. And it’s addictive. (I know this isn’t news.)
Those of us who want to communicate better could learn a lot from Amazon.
Such as:
Everyone who visits your website is a user, even if you don’t sell anything. They want to do something, whether it’s find information, learn something, register for an event, subscribe to your e-newsletter or find out who funds you. Make it easy and quick for them. Make sure your navigation is intuitive and your section and page titles self-explanatory.
Design your site from your users’ point of view. Why will they seek you out? What will they be looking for and want to do? (See Gerry McGovern’s Top Tasks: A how-to guide.) You want to be in the sweet spot where your content overlaps with user needs and interests.
Choose an easy-to-read font in a decent size. Please. I know it’s cool to use small, light type but, really, even if you can read, it do you like reading it?
Offer products (in other words, information, perspectives, etc.) no one else does. Think about what distinguishes you from other organizations working on the same issue(s) and capitalize on it.
There are loads of other ways to give your website users a seamless, easy experience. Get in touch if you’d me to look at your site.
And feel free to forward this email to anyone who might be interested.
Thanks for reading!
