Watch where they're looking
Here's the original location for this image:
Where the image sits on the web page exacerbates the brain-mind problem. The foreground action is one of acceptance and trust, the background action is that there's a problem or something potentially more interesting happening elsewhere, and now we learn that "elsewhere" is completely off the web page.
This is a big non-conscious no-no: never give people a reason to think there's something more important elsewhere, keep their attention right where you want it.
Fortunately, the fix for these things is simple and comes in two easily doable forms. The first easy fix is to simply replace the picture with one that has people in the foreground and background doing the same thing. For example:
Everybody in the foreground is eating and engaged in conversation around a table. Better, so is everyone in the background.
Give visitors something to look at
Another solution is to satisfy the brain-mind's need to follow a gaze to make sure things are okay. This is done by giving the site visitor a reward for following the gaze of the people in the background, for example:
This solution works well on many levels. The foreground image is of trust and acceptance. The background image will cause the visitor to look at the "Register Now" image, which is an action item. "Register Now" leads to a sign up page for the eMetrics Summit. The message? If you want to be honored, trusted and respected in this community, Register Now for the eMetrics Summit.
Summary
I wrote in the beginning of this column that the big learning is a simple one: people will look where other people are looking because they're wired to. It doesn't matter if what's looking is a pair of eyes or a face, people will look or grow uncomfortable when they attempt not to. Use this simple technique to focus visitor attention on your action items and you're ahead of the game in a big way.
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Joseph Carrabis is CRO and founder of NextStage Evolution and NextStage Global and founder of KnowledgeNH and NH Business Development Network. He was recently selected as a senior research fellow and board advisor for the Society for New Communications Research. Read full bio.