Web-02: Caveman Test
THE CAVEMAN TEST
Also known as The Grunt Test. As in, if I’m a big, hairy, ignorant oaf can I still figure out your website?
The Caveman test is simple. If I have 3 seconds on your website can I tell what you offer, where to click to get more information about it, and how to get in touch with you?
Try it with your website. Go ahead. But here’s the catch. Pick someone that doesn’t really know what you do. Maybe a friend from Facebook or that guy sitting next to you at the coffee shop as you read this. Show them your website and tell them to look at it for 3 seconds and then ask them these three questions:
If you get an instant, correct answer from those 3 questions, congratulations! Most people won’t and can grow in at least one of the three areas. We can get a little too attached to our website and our studios and begin to talk like ‘insiders’. We talk about our fun programs with cute nicknames but forget that people may actually have no idea what it is we are talking about.
Here’s what you need to remember. Keep it simple and tell people what you want them to do. Don’t be cute. Don’t try to come up with a fun saying or catchy gimmick. Don’t assume anything. Just tell them exactly what you want them to do.
Somewhere in BIG, BOLD TEXT it needs to say what you offer: MUSIC LESSONS. Or PIANO LESSONS. Make it really, extremely, insanely obvious. If you are a piano teacher there should be zero doubt upon even a moment’s glance at the page that you are offering piano lessons.
So, the prospective parent has found your page and knows that you are offering Piano Lessons because of the giant text that says PIANO LESSONS and a big picture of a kid smiling next to a piano. Awesome. They’re excited and want to learn more about your studio and what you offer. Where do they go next?
There should be ONE place that you want them to go. Where do you want to direct their eyes? Where do you want them to click? For us, it’s a button that says “Sign Up For Lessons”. Do you know what I want people to do when they visit my homepage? Sign up for lessons. So I put a big button that says “Sign Up For Lessons”.
At this point this is probably starting to sound a little redundant, right? But I assure you it isn’t. Look at your competitor’s website. Most are complex and clunky. You might understand what they offer, but where are you supposed to click now? Many websites have a menu with 6-10 options. Where do you even begin with that?
People are overwhelmed when you give them too many choices. I have a son that’s a toddler. If I ask him to do something, he can handle that most of the time. If I give him a choice between two things, he will pick one of them most of the time. Interestingly enough, it’s often the second one that I listed. If I give him a choice of three are more things he is overwhelmed. He either won’t answer me, will get frustrated, or just parrot back the last thing he heard me say because it’s all that he can remember.
Visitors to your website are like toddlers. In our fast-paced world, you only have so much time to hook them and present them with information. Clarity is the key and we’re going to think through every aspect of our prospective student’s journey on our website.
I like having a button on my website that helps to direct people to where I want them to go: “Sign up for Lessons!” or “Click here for more info!”. You might decide that you don’t want buttons and simply want people to use your navigation menu. If this is the case, be sure that your menu is VERY simple and has VERY few choices. For example, the menu on my studio page has 5 choices: Contact, Lessons, About, Pricing, Sign Up. Two of those are helping people to contact me (Contact and Sign Up) and the other three are informational. If people choose to click around they are presented with simple information in a logical format. Our Lessons Page talks about the different types of lessons that we offer. Our About Page talks about our studio, who we are, what we do, and how they can fit into it. Our Pricing page has all of our pricing information.
Each page also drives them to the next step. Our Lessons Page brings them to the Sign Up page. Our Pricing Page brings them to the Sign Up page. Remember what I want all of our visitors to do? Sign Up for Lessons!
By now people know that you offer piano lessons and they have clicked to find out more information. What if you have a question or are ready to sign up for lessons? What do you do?
This should be the easiest thing to find on your website. It is THE most important part of your entire site and you should sprinkle it throughout each page as well as having it on your main menu and in your footer. Put your email address in the footer. Have a Contact page and a Signup page in your main menu. Have buttons and links throughout each page that mention Sign Up for Lessons and Contact Us for More Info.
The Caveman test is simple. If I have 3 seconds on your website can I tell what you offer, where to click to get more information about it, and how to get in touch with you?
Try it with your website. Go ahead. But here’s the catch. Pick someone that doesn’t really know what you do. Maybe a friend from Facebook or that guy sitting next to you at the coffee shop as you read this. Show them your website and tell them to look at it for 3 seconds and then ask them these three questions:
- What do I offer?
- How can you find out more about what I offer on my website (Where is the first place that you want to click)?
- How can you get in touch with me?
If you get an instant, correct answer from those 3 questions, congratulations! Most people won’t and can grow in at least one of the three areas. We can get a little too attached to our website and our studios and begin to talk like ‘insiders’. We talk about our fun programs with cute nicknames but forget that people may actually have no idea what it is we are talking about.
Here’s what you need to remember. Keep it simple and tell people what you want them to do. Don’t be cute. Don’t try to come up with a fun saying or catchy gimmick. Don’t assume anything. Just tell them exactly what you want them to do.
Somewhere in BIG, BOLD TEXT it needs to say what you offer: MUSIC LESSONS. Or PIANO LESSONS. Make it really, extremely, insanely obvious. If you are a piano teacher there should be zero doubt upon even a moment’s glance at the page that you are offering piano lessons.
So, the prospective parent has found your page and knows that you are offering Piano Lessons because of the giant text that says PIANO LESSONS and a big picture of a kid smiling next to a piano. Awesome. They’re excited and want to learn more about your studio and what you offer. Where do they go next?
There should be ONE place that you want them to go. Where do you want to direct their eyes? Where do you want them to click? For us, it’s a button that says “Sign Up For Lessons”. Do you know what I want people to do when they visit my homepage? Sign up for lessons. So I put a big button that says “Sign Up For Lessons”.
At this point this is probably starting to sound a little redundant, right? But I assure you it isn’t. Look at your competitor’s website. Most are complex and clunky. You might understand what they offer, but where are you supposed to click now? Many websites have a menu with 6-10 options. Where do you even begin with that?
People are overwhelmed when you give them too many choices. I have a son that’s a toddler. If I ask him to do something, he can handle that most of the time. If I give him a choice between two things, he will pick one of them most of the time. Interestingly enough, it’s often the second one that I listed. If I give him a choice of three are more things he is overwhelmed. He either won’t answer me, will get frustrated, or just parrot back the last thing he heard me say because it’s all that he can remember.
Visitors to your website are like toddlers. In our fast-paced world, you only have so much time to hook them and present them with information. Clarity is the key and we’re going to think through every aspect of our prospective student’s journey on our website.
I like having a button on my website that helps to direct people to where I want them to go: “Sign up for Lessons!” or “Click here for more info!”. You might decide that you don’t want buttons and simply want people to use your navigation menu. If this is the case, be sure that your menu is VERY simple and has VERY few choices. For example, the menu on my studio page has 5 choices: Contact, Lessons, About, Pricing, Sign Up. Two of those are helping people to contact me (Contact and Sign Up) and the other three are informational. If people choose to click around they are presented with simple information in a logical format. Our Lessons Page talks about the different types of lessons that we offer. Our About Page talks about our studio, who we are, what we do, and how they can fit into it. Our Pricing page has all of our pricing information.
Each page also drives them to the next step. Our Lessons Page brings them to the Sign Up page. Our Pricing Page brings them to the Sign Up page. Remember what I want all of our visitors to do? Sign Up for Lessons!
By now people know that you offer piano lessons and they have clicked to find out more information. What if you have a question or are ready to sign up for lessons? What do you do?
This should be the easiest thing to find on your website. It is THE most important part of your entire site and you should sprinkle it throughout each page as well as having it on your main menu and in your footer. Put your email address in the footer. Have a Contact page and a Signup page in your main menu. Have buttons and links throughout each page that mention Sign Up for Lessons and Contact Us for More Info.
CAVEMAN TEST ACTION PLAN
- Find 3 people that don’t know what you do and have them do the Caveman Test on your website.
- Look at 3 local competitors and perform the Caveman Test on their website.
- Look at some BIG websites from large national and international brands to see how they stack up.
BONUS:
Check out Peek by User Testing. A real person will check out your website and answer some basic questions. If you have ever wondered how people navigate your site or what they are thinking, this is perfect. The User records a screen grab of the entire 5 minute video as they explore your website. It is an invaluable tool and you can do it multiple times.
You can even have them do it on your competitors website! They will perform testing on ANY website and it normally only takes a day or two. Check it out. It’s well worth your time and it’s FREE: http://peek.usertesting.com/