I wonder if these two articles know about each other?
The first one is from Smashing Magazine (which we’ll have to include in a future “stuff we love” article) and the second is from Zygote, a marketing blog from Egg Co. (neither entity I had heard of until yesterday).
37 Signals Breakdown from Zygote
The funny thing is that the Zygote article was published a week before the Smashing one. It might be a coincidence, but I have my doubts. Either way, they both have some great information on the [marketing] science of web design, unusual because 99% of design articles focus on the art of building a website. Both articles come together on the AIDA technique. For those who haven’t seen Alec Baldwin’s famous monologue in Glengarry Glen Ross, AIDA is an acronym for:
- Attention – Attract the attention of the customer
- Interest – Raise customer interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits
- Desire – Convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs
- Action – Lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.
For more information, I highly recommend checking out the aforementioned articles. They finally help close the gap of how to properly plan a website’s development.
Remember the other famous acronym from Glengarry: ABC—ALWAYS BE CLOSING. “Only one thing matters in life. Get them to sign on the line that is dotted!” I’m going to make a bold statement; any other goal for a sales tool, including (and especially) a website, is masturbation.
Mine was definitely published first
I was pretty upset about the Smashing Magazine article – although I suppose it could be a coincidence. It's not like I have a monopoly on the theory – but certain lines in the SM article were almost identical to my article… :/
No real harm done I suppose.
FYI I'm the author of Zygote and this is me:
http://www.yongfook.com/p/about
I think you made some good points in your post.
What happened to Yongfook's article? The page no longer loads. Too bad…
I think Smashing should at least add your entry to the "read more" section at the top of their article. Anyway, keep up the good work with your new company. You've obviously got the talent.