A funnel is often used to illustrate how many of your target audience will finally perform a desired action on the web site. For those who still believe that the mere existence of a web site is enough to get the “e” part of their marketing job done, a funnel is a handy tool to prove how wrong they are.

General marketing concepts can often be applied to web sites, too. One such example is the AIDA concept used in advertising. An ad needs to draw attention, then interest, then desire, and hopefully triggers some action. Web site marketers are constantly looking for methods and metrics to support each of the 4 steps.

Attention can easily be measured by page views. But isn’t there something before the “A”? If a web site cannot be accessed by people with disabilities, it can’t attract their attention at all. So should things like accessibility come before attention? I decided for myself that anything affecting the number of people that will see a web page (or hear it through a screen reader) falls under attention. Lets focus on this part of the AIDA model. What affects people’s attention to web sites? I thought this question would be a good excuse to come up with yet another funnel.

Existence

So you got a site? That’s great. But are you sure that your target audience knows about it?

Findability

For many web sites this is by far the most important part of the funnel. The above image does not provide any clues as to what fraction of users gets lost in the process, but if it would, there would definitely be a big gap between existing and findable. Actively promoting a site and making it search engine ready will move findability up the funnel and thus bring more people to the I in AIDA.

Functionality

Once they found your web site, they of course expect it to be functional and fast loading 24/7. Sites that don’t work properly will drive users away.

Usability

Another no-brainer. On easy to use sites more users will get to the action pages.

Accessibility

Even though the number of disabled users may seem small, accessibility is an important part of the funnel. Accessibility is not only about the blind. If I need to search for my glasses to read the text on some home page, chances are I will click back to Google.

If you think there is more to the “A” in web site AIDA, please let me know. I’m looking forward to your comments.