At it’s simplest, an engaging site is one that minimizes any visitor frustration throughout the user experience. Every visitor has a maximum frustration level – reach it and they are going to leave. The goal is to stay under the level.

A usable site is also one that contains certain elements that visitors have come to expect – these page elements are key in allowing a user to achieve their goals as the visit a web site.

Dispelling some pesky myths:
A few myths need to be discussed (you will quickly see how they build on each other):

Myth 1: "People will patiently read through endless paragraphs of text to find information."
Reality: People do not read on the Internet – they scan. And scan frantically.
When first-time prospects hit a home page, they are not reading, they are scanning. They are going to decide within 3 seconds if your company can help them. If they are repeat visitors, they will have more patience, but not much more. On interior pages they will scan to find the info THEY want, but they will not read through 5 paragraphs of text to get that info.

Myth 2: "People randomly scan a home page."
Reality: Users consistently use home pages the same way.
According to studies, visitors will start in the upper left (identifying where they are), scan diagonally to the bottom right and then focus back on the middle of the page to determine if you can ease whatever pain they are experiencing. The findings come from using optical devices to track people’s eye movement as they hit a home page.

Myth 3: "It isn’t necessary to tell visitors who you are and what you do.   They should already know."
Reality: You must tell/remind them on impact: who you are, what you do and how you can help them.
Clean home page messaging is the most commonly missed element on sites.  How many sites have you visited and said "What on earth do they DO?"  Your site's value proposition must be clearly stated and given prominent attention.  Grab them within 3 seconds from impact. 

Myth 4: Companies should put everything on the home page – give users everything at once.
Reality: You must prioritize your layout and information you put forth on the home page – overwhelming them isn’t the way to go.
This is a very popular format for e-commerce, news and club/membership sites. They throw everything onto the home page and hope the user can pick out something on their own. This isn’t the best approach for B2B sites.

Myth 5: It is good to be “different” – why look like everyone else?
Reality: People understand where certain page elements belong and what they should do – this is the key to usability.
This point is related to the above Myths – people do not use their brains on the Internet! It gets checked until they find something that looks like the info they want – then they retrieve the brain. Thinking while scanning is some sort of Internet violation. So putting elements in places they aren’t expected is similar to changing a red light to mean, “go” – chaos and confusion.

Why eMagine?

• 10 years experience developing Internet solutions for over 500 companies equals countless references willing to testify to our expertise
• We GUARANTEE you’ll be thrilled with both the product we produce for you, and our process for getting it done.
• We follow industry standards in terms of usability and web technology.
• Balanced approach combining creative design, usability and technology.
• We understand a web site is a work in progress long after “going live”.  eMagine is a long-term partner to our clients, there for support and continued strategic direction.
• Profitable and backed by a $200 million New England corporation.
• Focus on scalability and flexibility means that all sites are built allowing our clients easy-to-use content management tools to maintain AND grow their site over time.