Text-Heavy Web Sites Can Be Counter-Productive
By Mike Bowers
One of the common design and content errors we see in dealership Web sites is the overuse of text. When visiting some sites, you sometimes feel like you are reading a contract or dealer's biography, rather than getting quickly understood vehicle pricing and availability information.
You need to tell a story, but remember: The Internet, and the World Wide Web in particular, is a visual medium. You should be able to communicate quickly, without paragraph after paragraph of detailed text. The clear fact of the matter is that this text simply is not read. Frustrated site visitors will often be long gone by the time it would take them to read one page.
Not only are you dealing with the impatience of the Internet shopper, you are also dealing with a print medium that can cause eyestrain.
Mershon Shrigley, writing in The Newsletter on Newsletters, says that you should remember that the reader is reading light and not ink on paper. "When reading light, we blink less often and we're unable to adjust size by moving the document closer or further from our eyes. This causes more eyestrain than reading the printed page," Shrigley writes.
Because of this eyestrain, "your readers will more likely scan a page, looking for keywords or phrases to get the information they need without reading every word. A Sun Microsystems study determined that 79% of people who visit Web pages, for example, don't read them-they scan them."
While Ms. Shrigley was commenting on the design of e-mail newsletters, her comments can easily be transferred to your Web page offerings.
The less text the better. What may be very important or useful information to you, simply will be scanned at best, or at worst-ignored! Communicate quickly and with as few words as possible.
After composing a Web page (either your own composition, or from your Web developer), determine the message you are trying to communicate and then try to reduce the text. For instance, if you are trying to communicate that you have your used vehicle inventory online, a clear used car graphic with the words "Search our used vehicle inventory" should be enough. Telling the customer the dollar value of your used car inventory probably is not helpful (they have no idea how large that makes your inventory or how that compares to other dealers), but will also slow them down. This results in eyestrain, or worse-viewer boredom.
If your message is that your pricing policy guarantees a set, but competitive, fixed/no-haggle price, this too can be reduced to simple graphics and very short text. For instance, "Low Everyday No-Haggle Pricing on All New Chryslers." Confusing the viewer with a lot of text about how the no-haggle price is formulated or a list of exceptions will only cause customer frustration.
You only have a few seconds to communicate. Cut as many words as possible and get to the point, clearly and loudly. If you must, and I really mean must, bury the long text in a background page. Offer the viewer the opportunity to read the details if he or she wants, but not on your primary message page.
Mike Bowers is managing editor of WD&S Publishing, Metuchen, NJ. WD&S is a provider of information services for the automotive retail industry. Publications include Dealer's Edge, Warranty Dollars & Sense, Auto Retailing on the Web, The Parts Manager, and Fixed Coverage.mbowers@dealeronline.com
