Weekend Reading – Grading Your Website, Holiday Augmented Reality and the Demise of the F Pattern

Looking for a way to pass the time this weekend? We’ve scanned the web and created a list of some of our most interesting content finds. Today we’ll look at a simple way to grade your website, holiday augmented reality in Calgary and how people view search results. Let’s roll!

Does Your Website Get a Pass or a Fail?

There are lots of things to keep in mind when building a website – user experience, security, accessibility, design, lead generation, etc. Even after your website is complete, it’s important that you regularly work to make it the best it can be. Hubspot has come up with a cool way to give your website a checkup…

Read #1 – Website Grader

Ok first off.. this is a lead generation tool from Hubspot so expect to get a sales email after you receive your results. The good news is that the data that it gives you is pretty helpful. It looks at website performance, SEO, mobile experience and security. It also offers some next steps to help improve your website. Give it a try!

Augmented Reality Comes to Calgary

Augmented reality is something that we have some experience with, and it’s fun to see how others are using it. It’s easier than ever for consumers to access AR content and businesses are slowly warming up to the idea of using it to enhance the brand experience.

Read #2 – Holiday Window AR

This AR project in Calgary is pretty cool. I like the fact that they use painted windows as the backdrop and that they’ve created a tour of various locations throughout the downtown core. The question we get the most in regards to AR revolves around conversion – “How can I use AR to help me sell _______?”.

I think if you’re looking to sell something, you’re best off looking at other options like advertising or lead generation through content. AR can be used as part of a larger brand awareness campaign. Think of it as one of the many touchpoints that a business can present to the consumer as a way of staying top of mind. This campaign incorporates a local tour. Perhaps it will draw more people downtown and will expose them to new businesses along the way.

The F Pattern

I know that the “F Pattern” sounds dirty, but it’s not. It refers to the way people have traditionally viewed search results. Down the left, across the search result, then back to the left… and repeat. Based on some new tests, it appears that the F Pattern is so 2006…

Read #3 – How People View Google & Bing Search Results

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately looking at the way that people interact with websites (particularly our own). How do they navigate a page? Do they use the menu? How do they read pages and posts? It’s cool to see how the layout of search results is altering the way people consume the content that they are presented. It’s also really interesting to see how people engage with rich media and ads in these search results. Cool stuff!

There you have it… some light reading for the weekend! Enjoy!