Yesterday I signed up to a golf newsletter and the following email arrived in my inbox:
Should a website bother to cater for people in this way? The space would have been much better used to show me some latest offers or write a short paragraph about the company.
I’ve successfully managed to navigate to their website and sign up to a newsletter as well as being able to read their email so surely I can manage to click on a link?
In 2007 websites shouldn’t be trying to teach people how to use the internet.
Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Leeds based digital & SEO agency Branded3. Patrick also runs Blogstorm.You can get our blog posts delivered for free by email every day - simply add your email address to the box below or alternatively grab the RSS feed.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree. And if someone can’t click a link on their own, I’d rather not have to deal with them anymore!
I have been managing email newsletter subscriptions since 2001 and can assure you people *need* to be given clear instruction. There are MANY who do not know what to do if a link is not clickable.
In their defense, the instructions are for when the URL is not automatically made into a link by the email client. However, I agree. If someone is going to be on the internet, they should have a basic understanding of how use use a computer, including what a web browser is, how to type in a URL, how to copy and paste, etc. These are basic principals and the web site should not need to cater to people who don’t take the time to learn them on their own.
In fairness to the golf newsletter, it probably caters to many older people. If you’ve ever helped someone over the age of 65 with a computer, it’s almost as hard as getting a dog to talk. I have a friend whose grandmother has many computer problems, but all of which are easy for her to fix without outside help. If your PC “just doesn’t work right,” she recommends turning the machine off and unplugging it for several minutes to “let all the bad stuff drain out.”
How far do you go? “If, while trying to move your mouse, you run out of room on the mouse pad, please pick up the mouse and move it back to the center of the pad. Please remember, the mouse is not a foot pedal, the cd tray is not a drink holder, and your computer requires electricity to run.
Oh dang, I thought this was google.
Its sad but people still need to be led through just about every step. You can see this if you go to any major website and receive email from them. They list every little idiotic step but they certainly do it for a reason.
Well, it really depends on your audience. What if you’re catering to 50+ people?
Maybe the dafter ones are the easiest ones to sell to?
If so, then making absolutely sure that they sign up will be very profitable. And some of the under 50’s are not the brightest sparks on the bonfire.
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