Category: Emarketing

AIDA & Website Design

1/2/2017

This semester during my electronic marketing class, the students will be creating their first blog. After setting up their blog websites in Weebly (Yes, I love the Weebly . . . simple and clean.) Their first blog assignment will be to apply the AIDA marketing model by evaluating 2 websites. I thought it might be a good idea to lead the way with a blog on a website. Let us consider AirFareWatchDog.com . .  . Please note the red triangles that highlight the AIDA in the screen shot below:

A=Attention: Obviously, visitors to the AirFareWatchDog.com website expect to find the best air fares available today when they arrive at the website.  The folks of AirFareWatchDog.com deliver on that promise immediately.  Yes, the prime real estate in the top left corner of the page is the logo but immediately located to the right below the logo is a light blue box with the headline “Search for Best Airfare Deals.” My attention is captured immediately upon arriving at the website.

I=Interest: The designers have ensured that even if I do not know a particular destination to consider for a trip, they provide the lowest fares available today from my home city. Of course, they start with the lowest airfare available in order to secure my interest and draw me into exploring the opportunities for my next trip. When I clicked on the Airfare Details for flights from my home city, a pop-up box provided me with an immediate opportunity to act by subscribing to the website.  Their “Get Our Best Fares in Your Inbox!” teaser line was clean and simple to understand.

D=Desire: It is my opinion that the designers slip up a bit by failing to deliver on the desire. Yes, there are options in the navigation bar to search for low fares to a city, check out their Watchdog Community, or a variety of tools including writing a review, but they are easily overlooked. If it were my website, I would include a lead-in to a “hot news story” related to travel fares, a recent review of an airline, or list of recent new routes or published promotions. It could be a simple box between the Lowest Fares and Follow Us on Twitter. The key here is to get the individual to see the benefit of checking out the website on a regular basis and not just when they are considering a trip. Admittedly, there were several features that automatically pop-up once you started exploring the airfare deals, such as the opportunity to save up to 30% by booking your flight and hotel together. This was clearly an effective message that communicated how the website could save you money. Further demonstrating the benefit that could be secured by visiting this website . . . saving me money on my travel.

A*=Action: (Note the A* denotes Action on the graphic below.) This is where this website shines in its simplicity and effective delivery of Action opportunities. The “Search for Best Airfare Deals” is front and center above the 600px “fold” of the website (Viewers do not need to scroll down to Act.) I really like how the “From” box is pre-filled in with my home city making it very easy to proceed with a search to find the fares that best meet my needs. They also provide action opportunities with the “Follow Us on Twitter,” “Join Us on Facebook” and the “Tell Us What You Think” boxes. When I visited the site today, the current poll results indicated that the most important factor to visitors when booking a flight was price (by 83%).

Overall, the AirFareWatchDog.com website does an excellent job of moving visitors from attention to action with their overall layout and use of color, graphics, and whitespace.

A screenshot of the airfarewtchdog website with AIDA points identified.

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Electronic Marketing Student Blogs on AIDA

2/4/2013

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This week I would like to share some of the blogs created by my students in PRT 5460/6460 Electronic Marketing. Their first assignment was to evaluate a website using AIDA (attention-interest-desire-action). The majority of the students in this class will be graduating in May 2013. If you are looking for a capable employee with knowledge of electronic marketing, then check out these blogs:

Tanner Andresen: http://tannerandresen.weebly.com/index.html
Tyler Barnhart: http://tylerbarnhart.weebly.com/
Cameron Bailey: http://cameronbailey14.weebly.com/
Carly Brown: http://carlybrown.weebly.com/
Cameo Burton: http://cameoburton.weebly.com/
Henry Calderon: http://henrycalderon.weebly.com/
Vivian Chang: http://vivianchangs.weebly.com
Ram Chapagain: http://ramesworchapagain.weebly.com/
David Cravens: http://davidcravens.weebly.com/index.html
Cam Doane: http://www.CameronDoane.weebly.com
Creighton Elinski: http://creightonelinski.weebly.com/
Jenny Glauser: http://jennyglausereportfolio.weebly.com/
Michael Greer: http://michaelgreereportfolio.weebly.com/
Megan Hepworth: http://meganhepworth.weebly.com
Kylie James: http://kylieajames.weebly.com
Cole Johnston: http://robertcjohnston.weebly.com/
Cris Nelson: http://crisnelson.weebly.com/index.html
Montana Peterson: http://montanapeterson.weebly.com
Amanda Rostrom: http://amandaleerostrom.weebly.com/
Krystal Schultz: http://krystalschultz.weebly.com/electronic-marketing.html
Samu Sitake: http://samusitake.weebly.com
David Sylvain: http://occasionalcatnap.weebly.com
Jenessa Tondevold: http://jenessateportfolio.weebly.com/index.html
Jetta Valentine: http://jettavalentine.weebly.com/
Jennie Williams: http://jenniesexcellence.weebly.com/e-marketing-blog.html

12 Comments

AIDA Follow-up

9/17/2012

2 Comments

8 Secrets to Writing Faster Blog Posts

8/27/2012

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It seems that in my busy schedule of teaching, I never have sufficient time to blog. I am always writing a lecture, evaluating assignments, grading quizzes, etc. Yet I love sharing tips for effective electronic marketing with my students at the University of Utah. I discovered a great blog today (J6Design.com.au) with some basic ideas and a great infographic. Excellent timing since I need to get back into the swing of blogging in preparation for teaching social media this fall. So I will test out the suggested 8 secrets to writing faster blog posts beginning here and now!

1.  Assign a time frame & deadline... & stick to it. I am going to try and blog once a week for the balance of the fall semester. . . once a week with something about electronic marketing.

2.  Create a content calendar: This is an easy one if I simply follow the outline of topics covered in my electronic marketing class.

3. Keep a topic list: Sounds logical . . . again I will focus on topics I cover in my electronic marketing course at the University of Utah. So in the coming weeks there will be (hear that tone of determination as I strike those keys) blogs on Basic Web Design, Search Engine Optimization, Social media, HTML 5/CSS,    The power of photography and photo editing, and Flash as a tool to capture attention and generate interest.

4. Remove all distractions. Nearly impossible since I am always multi-tasking . . . but it seems that Monday afternoon might work to close off the majority of the world. Teddy (my blind Pomeranian can sleep on my desk while I work) and I will turn off all the other sound devices to minimize distractions.

5. Start at the end. As a teacher, this is the heart of the lesson . . . the desired learning outcomes. For example, in this blog post I hope students will learn that even they can find some time to post a blog message.

6. Write don’t edit. Impossible. My fingers edit before my head even knows what is happening . . . but I will attempt to minimize the editing.

7. Keep the flow. I will do my research before beginning the draft of the post. Start with an outline and then let the magic happen.

8.  You are story telling: J6Design.com.au suggests that you should read your blog out loud when you have finished drafting the blog. I do this all the time when I write my PowerPoint slides for a lecture. This is very helpful when I record my lectures for delivery online on the web. I find it is so much easier if I take the time to read it out loud a couple of times so that I can feel more conversational rather than rattling off facts for my students.

Well tune in next week to see what happens to my plan to implement this in my time plan. See you next Monday.

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12 Things That Will Kill Your Blog Post Every Time

3/6/2012

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A recent article I found on SEOMOZ reviewed some key aspects that every blogger should consider in order to make their blogs more effective. I will highlight a few of the recommendations. Bloggers should ensure that they make every effort to avoid making these errors that will decrease the effectiveness of your blog:

Crafting cute, clever or confusing headlines (or really bad ones) - Remember that this is the key aspect of generating interest in your blog. Make sure you make the headline interesting to attract attention. In my electronic marketing course, I teach the use of AIDA. A=Attention (the headline is essential to gaining attention), I=Interest (the description appearing on the search engine results will generate interest), D=Desire (create a desire for further information by supporting your blog with links to other sources), and A=Action (provide an opportunity for readers to follow-up on your blog with an RSS Feed or Twitter Posts).
Never linking to old posts. . . Previous posts provide support and further details for your current post.
Never linking to other bloggers . . . Again, providing links to other bloggers and articles generate interest and encourage dialogue between your readers and other bloggers.
Forgetting to fill out your page title and description fields . . . again, the page title and description are critical for SEO. Search engines use this information when indexing your page and the use of the title and description provides valuable attention for potential readers on the search engine results.
Plagiarizing other bloggers . . . Whereas, you may feel it is a quick way to boost your blogging frequency, make sure you are ethical and provide valuable insight for your readers. If in the case of a blog (such as, this particular post) reflects on material previously posted on another blog, quote the previous blog and provide a hyperlink to the original post. More importantly, ADD further information and insight. As noted on item 1, provide a greater information to ensure that your readers want to read your blog rather than just link to another person's blog.
Writing big blocks of copy . . . use short paragraphs with sub-headings. I know I am guilty of this error. When I first started blogging while on sabbatical in China, I used my blog as a travel journal. Writing in a journal is not the same as blogging. I have learned over time that most people do not want to read pages and pages of copy. Keep it short and interesting.

It seems that this is a perfect place to end this post . . . If you are interested in learning more, check out the original blog at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/12-things-that-will-kill-your-blog-post-every-time

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The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization

9/29/2011

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If you only purchase one book on Search Engine Optimization, then this is that book! The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization (2010) by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin & Jessie C. Stricchiola. (Published by O’Reilly Media.) If you are a novice or newbie with web page design and search engine optimization, then this should be your first read! If you are an experienced web designer, this book will serve as a reference book regarding SEO best practices. The authors of The Art of SEO explains the basic fundamentals, identifies guidelines for a comprehensive SEO strategy, and effective techniques. (By the way, for those of you who have a Kindle . . . you can purchase this book for your Kindle.)

Cover of the book entitled "The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization."

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Author

Dr. Linda Ralston (alias UTourDoctor) teaches at the University of Utah in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. My blog on emarketing is designed for my students just beginning the journey of exploring the world of electronic marketing.

Check out my other blogs:
eLearning Blog
ePortfolio Blog
Responsible Tourism Blog
Sabbatical Blog (2009)

Linda Ralston