How much information ...

... is too much information

[le_gber]

Hi all,

As I am in the process of redesigning one of my sites, I am trying to develop a content rich site for potential customers.

Like many of the peoples here I am in the web design business and so will be the theme of the site. I could spend hours talking about website and search engines.
I feel great about it because since I found this place, I know I am not alone ;).
But the thing is my potential customers will probably not be and I don't want to bore them to death.

My current word count on every pages is 400-500, divided in 4/5 sections/pages. It is all organised in one big column with only 1 icon per section header (ie 5 icons/page) and a couple of hr to delimit the sections. No big gaps or images to rest the eyes on

I think that it is quite easy to read, but again, I wrote it, and it's something that I like reading about. But what about my customers? How do I know that they won't just say whoa - too much information (no offence too much/chris ;)). How can I test it to see if it's ok - how can I make it easier to digest?

Thanks for your help

Leo

[simonuk]

I normally create up to 100 words on the first page and up to 200 words on other pages.

There has been a lot of research recently regarding surfing habits and one of things I saw was if there was too much text on a page people starting speed reading or skipping large chunks of text altogether. NOt a good thing :)

Hopefully your logs will tell you the average time spent on the site. If it's quite short try cutting down the text until you aquire the happy medium.

Simon.

[rcjordan]

If your site is trying to generate a lead or contact, too much information can be lethal. Why contact anyone if everything they think they wanted to know is there in front of them online? Marketing courses have taught this for decades, the web doesn't change that. The main problem is that a significant percentage of them will draw an inaccurate or incomplete "answer" from the information and move on.

[le_gber]

Basically the text is just a description of what we do, how we do it (very roughly), what we can bring them and example of our work.

It is informative but won't allow people to do it themselves.

Will have a look at the log to see how long people usually stay

Leo

[mcguffin]

le_gber,

Rcjordan has a very good point. Instead of thinking about quantity of information, you might want to consider the topics your website focuses on.

If you're offering web design services, your primary udience will probably be the people who want to hire a web designer and can afford web design services.

Let's say you write dozens of technical and content-rich pages about css, php, and even w3c standards. Will these sorts of pages cause them to write you an email or call you on the phone for your help?

Most people who hire a website designer:

• know they need a website
  
• don't know how to do it themselves
  
• are willing to pay for the service
  
• want to hire someone with good qualifications and skills
  
• want to choose a reliable person
  
• want to ensure on-time delivery
  
• want the results to look good
  
• want to get good value
  
• may not know how to choose a good website designer or the right questions to ask
  

Think about these needs and how you can differentiate yourself within your market. How can you use your website to guide the right audience to contact you.

I work in a service sector (not web design) where my role is to create a content rich site that guides people to contact our sales team. We help our website visitors assess their needs and their budget. If our solutions fit within their budget, we want them to call. However, if our solutions don't fit within their budget, we help guide to other solutions.

If you're trying to attract clients for your services, you may not want to become an authority site for do-it-yourselfers. It all depends on your market and your audience.

Good luck with the redesign!

[le_gber]

Thanks mcguffin,

you gave me a great idea for my homepage :)

It is not tutorials on anything like that, it just describes our services and methodology. I think I'll try the way it is a the moment and if the site stickiness increase I would know that I got a winner

Thanks again guys.

Leo

[mcguffin]

Leo,

I'm glad to hear our thoughts sparked an idea for you. Let us know whether your website's stickiness increases as a result of your experiment.