Nick Usborne

本文生动地将访问网站的用户比作附带了动能的变速轮小车，在费力的输入页上经历着摩擦，能否顺利达成目标？怎样使网站得到更多用户的青睐？这篇文章应该会带给你一些启发。

What does “helping your visitors” mean exactly?
“帮助你的访问者”其确切含义是什么？

It means writing your sites, newsletters and emails in such a way as to help each visitor achieve his or her goal.
它的意思就是在你的站点中加入即时通讯和电子邮件，以这样的方式来帮助每位访问者达成他或她的目的。

That may sound like a simple task, but it isn’t. Before you can write in a way that helps your visitors, you have to recognize and achieve a number of things.
这听上去也许像个简单的任务，但并不是这样。在你能够以这类方式帮助你的访问者之前，你必须承认一些事实并完成一些事。

1. Recognize that websites are hard to navigate

得承认网站导航并非易事

Even the simplest site is a lot harder to figure out than a catalog or magazine. We all know how to “use” a catalog. Start at the front cover and keep turning the pages. Same deal for every catalog you touch. It has always been that way and always will be.
甚至最简单的网站也都要比书本或杂志目录来得难以理解。我们所有人都知道怎样去“使用”目录。从封面开始并不断地翻转页面。你所接触到的目录都可以这么做。

If only it were that simple with a website. Unfortunately that’s not the case. With every new site we visit, we have to “learn” how it works, how its “pages” turn, how to find what we are looking for.
如果网站也只要这么简单就好办了。不幸地是情况并非如此。每当我们访问新站，就必须“学习”它是怎样运作的，它的“页面”是怎样翻转的，需要怎样操作才能找到我们所寻找的。

The fact that no two sites are exactly the same creates a roadblock or speed bump for each new visitor. When they arrive at your site they have to pause, look around and figure out exactly how this “catalog” works.
事实上没有两个站点会为每个新来的访问者制造完全相同的障碍或阻拦。当他们来到你的站点上他们必须暂停一下，四下观察并理解这个“目录”是怎么运作的。

Recognize this moment of difficulty and you’ll see that the text on your homepage has to be very clear and has to help direct the visitor forward to the information he or she is looking for.
意识到这方面的难度你就会理解为什么你的首页文字必须非常的清晰并能帮助引导访问者前往他们所要寻找的信息。

2. Understand what it is your visitors are looking for

明白你的访问者寻找的是什么

We may pay lip service to being “visitor-centric,” but all too often our homepages primarily serve the needs of the organization, or even our own egos.
我们或许在“游客为本”上花费了太多的口舌，但所有那些看似过于重复的主要服务正是组织上或我们自己所需要的。

We carve up the real estate of the page to represent the different stakeholders in the company. Or we thrust our own views on design upon the visitor. Internal politics and ego are just two of the things that make it even harder for a first-time visitor to figure out how to find what she’s looking for.
在公司里我们将各自代表不同stakeholders的页面分割开。或许我们相信自己的设计观念在访问者之上。政治和个人是两码事，这只会造成初次访问的游客更难找到他们所需要的东西。

And to write a homepage that really and truly is there to help the visitor above all else, we first have to understand the needs of the visitor.
在首页上放些真实存在的东西来帮助游客比什么都重要，我们首先应该懂得游客所需。

At this point too many people just throw up their arms and give up. “We have so many different kinds of people looking for so many different products and services, we can’t possibly write our homepage for the visitor.”
在此观点上有许多人缴械投降了。“有太多不同的人来查找太多不同的产品和服务，我们不可能在首页上完成。”

Nice excuse, but no reward.
很好的借口，却得不到回报。

Dell.com does it. Dell has what is probably to most visitor-centric site of all the computer manufacturers. For years now they have built a homepage that holds back on saying, “Look at us, we’re great.” Instead they devote a significant part of the page to an area where visitor can self-select.
Dell.com做到了这点。Dell或许是所有计算机制造厂商网站里最能符合游客为本的。经过了多年现在他们建立的主页并没有类似于口号的“关注我们，我们是伟大的。”相反的，他们将精力投入展示页面有意义的部分好让游客可以自主选择。

The design and text on the page immediately recognizes that some people are looking for home computers, while others are looking for networks for local government offices. Both audiences and more are addressed. The Dell.com page says, in effect, “Yes, you’re in the right place. Yes, we can help you. Yes, self-identify and please click here so we can help you find exactly what you need.”
页面上的设计和文字可以马上让人了解到一些人正在挑选家庭用机，而其他一部分在挑选办公用的网络设备。既是听众更多的又是讲解者。Dell.com的页面事实上在说“是的，你所在的位置是对的。是的，我们可以帮助你。是的，自己确认下并点下这里好让我们帮你找到你所需要的准确内容。”

If they can do it, why can’t the rest of us? Why can’t we design and write homepages that are primarily created with a view to helping each visitor find what he or she wants as quickly as possible?
如果他们能做到这点，为什么我们就不行呢？为什么我们设计并建立的首页就不能从根本上帮助每个访问者来尽快找到他们所需要的呢？

接受访问者只是粗略浏览了你的标题和链接的事实

You’ve done it yourself. You go to a new site and scan the page. You may read one or two headings and links in their entirety, but often you will skim over others.
你自己本身就已经是这样做的。你到一个新的站点。你或许会读完一个或两个标题或链接，但通常你会直接寻找里面精华的部分而略去其他的一些东西。

Here comes excuse number two: “Hey, we have a huge site here. We have to create a large number of sub-heads and links on the homepage.” Well, here’s a really big site that seems to have worked around that one: Microsoft.com. They may be the “dark side” to some designers, but they have a very lean homepage for such a huge organization.
这又有一种辩解“嘿，我们的站点太大了。我们必须在首页建立巨大数量的子标题和链接。”好的，这里有一个真正巨大的站点似乎就在我们身边：Microsoft.com 。他们也许对于一些设计师来说是“丑陋的”，但他们首页相对于庞大的结构来讲真是非常瘦小。

And there’s something else to note about how they do things on the Microsoft page. See the link text? They say enough to get the point across. That’s helpful. All too often design constraints limit links to just three or four words each. When that happens, you often leave the visitor guessing about what is really behind that link: is it what they are looking for or not? Say enough to make it clear.
在MS的页上还有点需要注意到的。看到文字链接了吗？在交叉口的位置他们会花上大量的说明来指明方向性。这是很有帮助的。所有那些在连接文字数量上做了强制限制的，会发生什么？你经常会让访问者去猜测在这个连接背后的页面到底是不是他要寻找的。还是说明白一些为好吧。

If you want to help your visitors, try to reduce the number of headings and links on the homepage, and make those forward links as clear and unambiguous as possible.
如果你想要帮助你的访问者，尝试着减少首有页上标题的数量和文字吧，还得保证这些连接指向尽可能的清晰。

4. Be relevant in the words and phrases you use

使用恰当的文字和语句

If you want people to know how to find what they want on your site, be sure the language you use is relevant to their needs.
如果你想要人们了解并让他们在你的站上找到想要的信息的话，请确保你使用的语言是否贴切他们的需要。

At its simplest, this means avoiding corporate-speak and industry jargon. It means taking the trouble to find out which words and terms your visitors use when thinking about your products and services.
说简单一些，就是要避开那些类似发表演说一样的专业用语。这意味着得费心找找访问者要知道有关你的产品和服务的时候会用到哪些话。

Don’t use your company’s “hot terms.” Write in a way that is relevant to your visitors.
不要使用你们公司的“热点术语”，写些更贴切访问者的语言。

The words and terms you use are essential to helping people find what they want. Use language that they recognize. Write in a way that makes them sit up and think, “This is exactly what I’m looking for!”
你使用的文字和属于对于要找这方面信息的人来说是必要的。使用他们能识别的语言。使用的文字应该能让他们能感觉到“这是确实是我想要找的！”

How can you achieve this? The simplest way is to research your logs and see what search terms people are using when they arrive via the search engines. See which words and phrases they use in their searches. This is the simplest and most elegant way to get a feel for the language they use when thinking about your products or services.
怎样才能达到这样的目标？最简单的办法就是研究下用户使用的搜索记录。看看哪些语句他们最常用到。这是最简单有效得到他们想到有关你的产品和服务所用到的语句。

And when you use the terms that people enter into search engines, you achieve instant recognition. “Hey, these guys are speaking my language!”
当你使用人们输入在搜索引擎里的语言时，你瞬间达成了目的。“嘿，这些家伙正在说我们的语言！”

Executive Summary

执行摘要

We all want to help our visitors achieve their goals, right? It’s what we want and it’s what they want too.
我们都想帮助我们的访问者完成他们的目的，是吗？这是我们想要的，他们也一样。

Being helpful, being focused on helping visitors is a state of mind, it’s an attitude.
提供帮助，专注于帮助访问者是一种心态，它是一种态度。

It means being an advocate for the visitor.
它意味着拥护访问者

It means stripping out the corporate-lingo and industry-speak.
它意味着剥去奇怪难懂的语言（可能我翻译的文章就有点难懂，水平问题^_^）

It means speaking in their language and demanding clarity in what we write.
这意味着要说出他们的语言并且我们写的要清楚。

It means writing headings and links with an understanding of what our visitors want, and what they need to know in order to move forward from the homepage.
这意味着标题和连接的文字得让我们的访问者明白，以及提供他们从首页向前移动所需要知道的信息。

It means designing each page so that people’s attention is drawn to key messages and links.
这意味着设计每张页面好让人们的注意力能在关键的信息和连接上。

It means fighting some fights — and reclaiming the homepage for the visitor.
这意味着要对某些提议——并让首页改成针对访问者的。

It means putting a sticky note on your monitor, just to remind you to stay focused:
这意味着得在你的显示器前贴上小字条，好提醒你：

“What can I do to this homepage that will make it more helpful for my visitors?”
“我能在这首页上做什么，好让它对我的访问者更有帮助呢？”