What You Think You Know About the Web is Wrong

I spend lots of time inside Google Analytics, monitoring open and click results from MailChimp campaigns and reviewing social media impressions and engagement. This article, written by Tony Haile, brings to my attention what happens “in the middle.” While we are not going to be able to understand everything about our readers, there is much more to web intel that communicators often miss.

As explained the “clickthrough” is a more than 20 year old measurement tool, created long before engagement entered the conversation. “The Attention Web,” he says, provides “a new window into behavior on the web.” In the four myths about web readership, Haile explains how the social activity is skewed and how engagement has several layers of interpretation. The fact is, most clickthroughs aren’t read, social sharing does not always match engagement, native advertising is weak against normal content, and banner ads may have a longer lifespan if you are using them to build awareness — not sell products.

The writer invites us to look at several companies working to provide solid experiences and results such as Medium, Upworthy, Gizmodo and Refinery29. Haile explains, “When sites are built to capture attention, any friction, any bad design or eye-rolling inducing advertorials that might cause a visitor to spend a second less on the site is bad for business.”

I consider this a challenge to look at sites that I manage and ask the question “do I want to get readers to the front door” or “invite them in for a meal and good discussion?” Written four years ago, this content is now more relevant with new platforms thrown in front of millions of users. I suspect the 15 seconds to get one’s attention, mentioned by Haile, has decreased and the “attention-focused metrics” have lots of new variables.