Make your web marketing 50+ friendly

 

There are a couple of unpalatable facts for us older web users; we make more errors and take longer to complete tasks than our children and grandchildren.

Research done by Nielsen Norman, the web usability consultants, found web users over the age of 65 took 66% more time completing tasks than those aged 21-55.

What causes this decline in web competence? Firstly there is the physical deterioration that accompanies getting older: cognitive, vision and psychomotor abilities are affected.

Secondly, many older people have spent most of their working life without computers or the internet. Someone born in 1940 would have been 50 before PCs became a common part of the workplace.

Despite these problems the over 50s are increasingly using the web and now represent 25% of the UK online population. In Scandinavia the figure is closer to 40%.

If we were to make our web marketing more 50+ friendly – how would it look?

'Use large font' is normally the first, and often the only allowance that the web designer makes when confronted with this requirement.

Research has actually shown that 'text size does not significantly affect performance for any age group of web users'. Having destroyed that myth, surely there are other techniques?

There is a whole range of ways to enhance web marketing for 50+ users. Most supporting research comes from academia and by those working to improve websites for people with disabilities. Neither of these groups has much visibility with commercial web designers or marketers so their work is largely ignored.

So how can you review your web marketing for 50+ friendliness?

Use of language and imagery

Firstly, assume the user has minimal technical knowledge. For the older web user terms like '800*600 resolution' or 'download plug-in' will create a feeling of panic. It’s often difficult for people who spend their professional lives immersed in the web to understand how little others know, or care, about its technicalities.

Secondly, is the language and imagery of your web marketing suitable for the older web user? For instance might the older person interpret the text as condescending and stereotyping? Does the language in your marketing convey a 'value system' more appropriate to a younger generation?

Finally, how understandable and relevant is the language of your web marketing? This factor applies to all age groups, but is more significant to the older person. Typical mistakes are:

• words that are specific to the company and its industry but mean nothing to the web user
• too many ‘sales messages’ and too little factual information in the web site copy
• a writing style that is more suitable to an annual report than the web marketing

Design Elements

The text fonts, colour schemes and level of animation have a significant influence on the impact and extent of interaction your web marketing receives.  These elements combine to make your email marketing easy to see, fast to load and relaxing to use and navigate from.

To get the right combination of design elements remember this simple rule – 'older users prefer fast loading, simple and uncluttered web marketing'

Navigation from your web marketing

The ultimate aim of producing web marketing will be to get the web user to navigate to your web site and convert them to a customer. Once you have created 50s+ friendly web marketing there is little point in abandoning these principles once they have reached your web site. 

Most older users prefer 'goal centred' navigation. This is a fancy way of saying the navigation should anticipate the user's questions and provide a simple way for them to get the answers.

For example if you’ve sent an email promoting your range of services or products, the web user may have difficulty in selecting the most suitable product. Why not provide the information to aid in making a decision and clearly label it as 'which product is right for you?' All too often the navigation on the web reflects the structure and priorities of the company, rather than its potential customers.

Examples of poor navigation include:

• making it difficult for the user to return to the home page
• having multiple styles of navigation throughout the web site
• forcing the user to navigate through long pages of text.

Remember, employing the best practices in web marketing will aid all the people that receive it or visit your web site. The difference between the old and young user is the latter are more adept at coping with problems.