MichaelSullivan
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Jan 5, 2010, 1:01 PM
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By Michael P. Sullivan
50-Plus Communications Consulting: www.graymoney.biz
Who creates and maintains your website? What is the person’s age? How much contact does the person have with your target market, current or potential residents or homeowners?
Do you understand the importance of using a website-creator who understands how the onset of midlife changes affects people’s worldviews, values and aspirations? Are you aware of the physical changes occurring with aging especially with vision, the key to web presentations?
We ask these questions when we train associates of companies seeking to improve web communications with those in their mid-50s and older.
If your website is not delivering the number of hits you want, nor the quality of leads, you might want to take a look at improving this powerful sales tool. If it is not delivering, then you need to look at some basics. With some tweaking, your website may deliver far more positive sales leads and improve closings.
A key factor for companies targeting senior adults is the age and understanding of the target demographic market by those creating the message. Generally, webmasters and web developers are on the younger end of the age scale -- 20s to mid-30s. It’s easy to see why – technology-sophistication resides with those who have grown up with increasing levels of computer savvy, and that translates to younger adults.
Creating and managing “seniors-friendly” sites is rare for younger adults, especially in a youthful culture that avoids aging issues. Your success rests with training web developers to understand that adults over 50 think and act much differently than their younger counterparts, and translate that learning to websites.
Generally, the job of webmasters is to turn words and art into Internet sites that people are attracted to and can use.
This column and the one to follow next month are written to help management of retirement homes and retirement communities create more effective websites describing their property.
Marketing communications, especially on the website, are more effective and better sales and service is provided to older adults, if the creators of the materials are more knowledgeable and sensitive to changes occurring with aging. One easy way to help them understand is to have them read some books on the aging process.
Let’s start with a key physical issue – the changes in vision with people of age. Vision decline is one of the most obvious signs of aging.
Each individual is born with some specific level of visual functional capacity, encompassing all attributes of vision -- distance, depth perception, peripheral vision. Different individuals start out at different levels. All individuals begin to lose some of that inborn capacity by the early 20s.
By age 60, the average person has less than 25% of that original functional capacity -- and the decline continues throughout the rest of life. About 90 percent of people over age 60 require vision correction of one kind or another.
What are some vision difficulties an older person experiences? They include seeing near objects; loss of depth perception; difficulty with external glare and generally a narrow field of vision.
Remember that older adults grew up as book and newspaper readers. They still retain the habits of print readers. Printed material rather than audio and video tend to be the most credible source of information for senior adults. They are much more comfortable reading straight through a text rather than linking to other explanatory material.
Here are some to-dos: Use simple typefaces – those that are not condensed such as Times New Roman. Avoid using novelty and decorative typefaces which can be distracting. Choose typefaces based on their legibility. We suggest 12 or 14 point size for body text, and larger for headlines. Use medium or boldface type. Avoid those too bold or exceptionally light because they are more difficult to read.
My next column will go into greater detail about color, visuals, simplicity of message, pull downs, menus, navigation rules, site maps, icons and buttons and use of audio and visual messages. Contact me if you need more information.
Michael P. Sullivan, President, 50-Plus Communications Consulting, Charlotte, North Carolina, (704) 554-7863. Mike consults and trains staff at retirement facilities, home care living firms, financial services and health care organizations. His book, “101 Easy Ways to Increase Business with Boomerplus Clients” is available on his website, www.graymoney.biz. Contact him at mps50plus@aol.com.
(This post was edited by MichaelSullivan on Jan 5, 2010, 1:03 PM)
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