There are quite a lot of factors that shape the way we function in the online world. The way we interact with the internet communities is affected by our gender, age, cultural heritage, but it’s also affected by our interaction on social media, our emotional response to specific advertising techniques, basically – it’s affected by our personality.
What this means for you, or anyone who wants to build their online presence is that you have to focus on psychology in order to address as many people as possible. If you really want to make a difference and expand your reach, you must find the best possible way to analyze your visitors’ personalities.
Knowing that there’s a virtual sea of different personality tests, it may seem hard to understand which is the best suited for your needs. Luckily, there are some general psychology-based tactics that can help you build and develop a great website which will stand out. These are just some of those tactics that should point you in the right direction, so, let’s get straight to it.
A Picture Says a Thousand Words
When it comes to human mind, one thing stands out and that is the fact that we are visual beings. Having a lot of written content may help your visitors gain a better understanding of your services, products, and goals, but it will take them quite a lot of time to go through all of it. Images, on the other hand, provide a quick and effective way to say something. Human mind processes images way faster than text. Some studies have even shown that people think in pictures, so using powerful imagery and visuals can really make you stand out in a positive way.
Decision-Making is Driven by Emotion
Most of the people consider themselves logical and rational. Their opinion is based on rational decisions they make, or on a logical choice, they have to take. But what we think about ourselves and what is the actual truth can sometimes get in conflict. Various studies have shown that basically every decision we make is based on emotion. Knowing this, marketers can focus on the specific focus groups and specific emotions in order to find the one their consumers are most susceptible to. This helps them build a relationship with consumers, and it can significantly help with raising brand awareness on the internet.
Color has a Huge Impact
When you’re thinking about what your website should look like, one of the most important things to consider is color picking. There are no things that can affect the mood of a visitor as a good (or bad) choice of color. When put like that, you would think that marketers have devised a perfect formula and found the best color combinations for conversions, but this is not the case. There is no simple choice when it comes to the right color combination and the choice of colors. You will have to test and optimize constantly, as some elements may stand out more than others and outperform other important parts of your site. It’s important to analyze the data and make the changes accordingly, and keep in mind that modern web design is mostly simplistic.
Smart Wording Helps Build Trust
When it comes to trust-building, that’s where the written content comes to play. Choosing the right words doesn’t only help your visitors and customers understand you better, it also makes them trust you. Some words are consistently showing amazing success when it comes to building trust with your customers. Using words like authentic, loyal, official, guaranteed and certified has become somewhat of a standard on the internet, and for a reason too. People tend to have a great response to those words, especially if the rest of the website is designed accordingly.
People are Prone to Impulsivity
Another thing people are known for is that most of them are prone to impulsivity. People can express their flight-or-fight responses, they will react according to their obsessive-compulsive tendencies and they will react to urgencies and all of these factors are behind impulsive purchases. This is because of the way the neocortex expresses itself. What this means for marketers is that they can focus on those factors and address the customers accordingly. Let’s say you have a desktop version of your website, but you haven’t implemented responsive web design. A visitor from a mobile device enters the site and instantly gets frustrated. There is a high possibility they won’t come back, even from a desktop. That’s why you must think about addressing those impulsive decisions and make them work for you. You don’t have to be a “Godfather”, but you can make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Limited Options Create Certainty
If you’ve ever been to a restaurant with a complex menu, you must know how indecisive you’ve felt. When people are faced with a lot of options and a lot of similar choices, they tend to lose focus. Not just that they lose focus, they usually tend to completely give up their search. Smart web design is based on smart choices. Give your customers and visitors minimum amount of options needed to complete their goal. This will give you an insight into how your visitors react and engage on your website. You can always add more options later on if you think it’s necessary, but don’t overdo it. Simplicity and a limited number of choices can take you a long way.
As the internet evolves, so do its users. Understanding what people really want and look for is one thing, but understanding the best possible way to approach their needs and desires should be through psychology. Don’t underestimate the power of people’s behavior, personality, and their needs. Once you start learning about those things, you will start understanding the psychology-based web design, and with that knowledge, you can really make a difference for yourself in the online world.