One of the hottest topics of discussion in web design lately is how colors can affect the behavior of users visiting a site. Think about it – when you see an icon that says “Click Here” what color is it? I’m going to guess it isn’t gray. While you create your online business presence you’ll want to consider what colors make your visitors click or look away.
Research has shown that the more vivid the color of a link is, the more likely they are to click on it. Bright colors are more likely to be noticed while greyer or mid-toned links are likely to be ignored. Let’s go back to that “Click Here” icon I asked you about earlier. It was yellow, wasn’t it? Or red? Or orange? Our willingness to click a link seems to be related to our natural curiosity about bright colors.
Text vs. HTML: The Battle for Best Email Format Continues
The debate over whether text or HTML is better for email marketing is ongoing. Most business owners and many marketing directors are aggressively in favor of HTML. On the other hand, there are some lead generation and Internet marketing professionals with over a decade of experience that swear by plain text emails for getting the best open rates.
Honestly, it comes down to what is right for your individual business and what has the most power to influence and urge your prospects to action. Different types of people and leads respond to different things in different ways.
So which is right for you? We break each format down so you can choose.
“Eye” See Content: How Eye-Tracking Patterns Effect Design
One of the most overlooked but extremely important factors in web design is called eye tracking, or how easily your web page can be read. All too often web designers clutter their pages with too much color and too many images, distracting visitors from the actual intention of the website.
Here are the two most important types of eye tracking patterns to be aware of when you design a site page:
10 Email Subject Lines to Increase Open Rates
Email subject lines are one of the most important factors of email marketing campaigns. One of the most popular email marketing services recently did a survey of over 40 million emails they sent out for various campaigns to study their open rates.
They found that their top performing email subject lines averaged an unbelievable 60-87% open rate while the poorest performers sat in the 1-14% range. Clearly crafting a great subject line that just screams, “Read Me” is worth your time.
Fun Fact: Several of the worst performing subject lines include the words ‘valentines’ and ‘bananas’. Why do you think people were turned off by these emails?
Getting anyone to share their most successful subject lines for free is not an easy task considering tens of thousands of dollars, if not far more, can ride on the success of a single campaign. However, we did the research for you.
Eureka! Find Revenue in Abandoned Shopping Carts
Abandoned shopping carts on your website hold a virtual treasure trove of revenues just waiting to be tapped into. There are many reasons why prospects and customers may not have finished their purchases. Maybe they were adding items to their virtual wish list to look at later. Perhaps they got distracted by a phone call. Or it is likely they decided to shop around for a better price.
Regardless of the reason these incomplete orders offer a vast amount of easy income. Think about it – these orders confirm that customers know you are out there and want what you are selling. Making the extra effort to nudge these customers to buy could be the most cost effective marketing campaign that you will run all year long.
Marketing to your abandoned shopping cart gold mine is easily done. Find and use an automated email marketing system [i.e. MailChimp, iContant] that automatically follows up with website visitors who have left abandoned items in their shopping carts.
Join Our Community
Join our community today to get original Black Dog Education content sent FREE to your email inbox each week!
Signup today and receive a FREE download of our Website Security E-Book!