1. Why you should care about web tags
I will spend some time reading the website log every afternoon this week. The website log records the behavior of users browsing the website. Not every company can invite users for testing and interviews, so the website log is a way for operators and designers to understand users. an important way.
In the user's search logs, we found that many users do not use the tags we designed, but usually enter relevant content in external search engines. After the search engine matches, they return to our page and browse our page over and over again. For example, a user has booked tickets for Zhouzhuang scenic spot, but he also wants to know about hotels in Zhouzhuang. We have shown the hotel entrance on the scenic spot product page, but the user enters Zhouzhuang accommodation in the search box, and sometimes even jumps to an external search engine. Search, fortunately we have a strong SEO team, and finally guide users back to the website. Our tags here are not recognized by users. Users do not know the meaning of our tags. What role do tags play in the website? Woolen cloth?
Tags are an important way to simplify a website. They represent a lot of information on the website and are designed to guide users to browse the website quickly and without obstacles. For example, "About Us" is a label that represents a large piece of content, including company information, address, contact number, fax, etc. Users can understand the content behind this label when they see "About Us".
Recently, I have also been paying attention to the information architecture of the website. Tags are an important part of the information architecture. Based on the log analysis of the website, I have compiled some ideas about Web tag design.
Two label classification
In fact, each of us is a label designer. We make various labels for ourselves or others every day. QQ profile has a friend impression function. You can add various labels to your friends; it is quite popular now. There is also the function of adding tags to yourself. Flickr image uploaders can add tags to each image, making it easier for other users to search and view. Delicious, currently the largest bookmark site on the Internet, is becoming more and more popular among Internet friends. Generally, website tags are oriented to all users, and tags that the vast majority of users can understand are good tags. Website tags are roughly divided into the following four types: navigation tags, title tags, situational tags, and index tags.
The navigation tag is easy to understand. It is the navigation bar of the website. Generally, when we enter the website, the first thing we look at is the navigation of the website. The navigation allows users to understand the general structure of the website. For example, Tongcheng.com has eleven levels of navigation tags, corresponding to " Home page”, “six major tourism products” and “three major auxiliary products”.
The title tag is a description of a large piece of information. Sometimes users just glance at it when browsing our website and do not want to spend too much time viewing it. The title tag needs to be graded. Different levels should present different visual effects. As Cheng knows, the question categories in the right column are first-level title tags, which correspond to the following second-level title tags such as "eat", "accommodation", "travel", "travel", and "shopping".
Situational tags are a special kind of tags. As the name suggests, they are tags based on situations. If the entire website and content can create a user usage situation, then this tag is a successful tag. Otherwise, different users have different understandings. Just like the QQ friend impression tags mentioned before, when users see these tags and relate their various performances in life, they can intuitively understand the person's personality and preferences. Blog websites usually only use these tags. Situational tags, because most users are good friends and are familiar with each other, the tags can be designed to be vague and full of mystery. Appropriate use of situational tags on the website can increase the interest of the website.
Index tags are often called meta-keywords, which can be matched simply and accurately, and users can easily understand the meaning of index tags. The simplest index tag uses English letters, and the English letters match related information.
Three label design
How to design and build website tags? I remember that when I was designing my own website, I was always obsessed with tags. I referred to many related websites and finally decided on three navigation tags based on my own content. In fact, there are two important aspects of tag design. The sources are content and users respectively.
content
Content is king. Tags can come directly from the content analysis of the website. You can choose representative content on the website, just like we write articles, with titles, keywords and abstracts. These can form tags. The key is how to find the ones with the most relevant content. For representative content, label design is a painful and long process that requires a lot of effort. Sometimes a usable label can only be obtained when inspiration strikes. Some people say that label design is an artistic work.
While analyzing the content, you can go to the content provider or author and ask the author to suggest tags for his content. Because the author is very familiar with their content, the tags provided by the author may be the most useful. The content of many company websites The students in the marketing department are in charge. They look for resources and explore user needs. However, architects or designers from the design department are mostly responsible for the labeling of the website. The slight difference in understanding the content here leads to the inability of users to correctly understand the labels.
Another way is to look for industry experts or websites with good reputations in the industry. They have more in-depth research on user needs. Standing on the shoulders of predecessors, you will think more comprehensively.
user
Users of the website are the best source of tags and the ultimate users of tags. Users will tell you what kind of tags they like. Whether it comes from users directly or indirectly, this information is very valuable.
Find users directly
Directly find users for testing and interviews, and allow users to participate in the label design of the website. In this process, card sorting is generally used. Card sorting is widely used in qualitative research. Card sorting is used in labeling system design. The method is divided into open-ended and closed-ended. The open-ended card sorting method provides subjects with content and asks them to name labels for each content. The closed-ended card sorting method provides subjects with content and labels. One content corresponds to several Tags allow subjects to choose and exclude priorities. During the experiment, users can also be asked to state the reasons for selecting tags. The moderator should keep records at all times.
Due to limitations in time, manpower, financial resources and other related resources, the card sorting method in label design is difficult to apply in domestic companies. Only some large companies will spend a lot of time and energy on user research. We previously cooperated with Procter & Gamble in March. A research project on user satisfaction of new products. In order to obtain the consumption characteristics of the subjects, the project used the card sorting method to let the subjects choose a set of pictures that can represent their current life and ideal life. These pictures include Different consumption levels include food, clothing, housing and transportation. Through the pictures selected by the subjects, we also analyzed the consumption characteristics of the subjects from a relevant perspective. This was also the first time that I applied the card sorting method to practice, and the results of that project were quite satisfactory.
Find users indirectly
Most companies guide website tag design by analyzing and mining website data, such as querying user behavior trajectories. This is also an effective method. Search log analysis is an important way to determine the source of tags. According to the user’s comments on the website, The traces left behind include the pages the user browses, the tags and content the user clicks, the keywords used in the user’s search, etc. The search log records the users describing their information needs in their own language. These are the most authentic user languages. It is more valuable than what the users themselves say. I find that the label language of many websites is too academic or professional. You can tell at a glance that the labels are written by computer people or company leaders.
Excellent label design is a prerequisite for website usability. With the development of the Internet and the dramatic increase in massive information, we have also seen many Internet products begin to allow users to participate in label design. Socialized labels will definitely be the development of the future Internet. Trend, try to use popular user language to design labels, which may bring an order of magnitude increase to your website traffic.
Author of the article: wangliang
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