Enterprise Nation

Thanks to Shirley Borrett of the Telework Association for allowing us to re-produce this piece looking at the kind of surfer you are. Could you be a Scroller, Bit-picker or  Tracker? And what about your site visitors?

The three forms of surfer

Ling Valentine, owner of Lingscars.com has undertaken her own extensive research into the psychological surfing habits of over 50,000 visitors to her website. Ling's findings state that internet users fall into three distinct groups when digesting visual information;

• The Scroller: These down-to-earth, practical types choose to scroll up-and-down or from side to side as if examining a large picture or reading a newspaper.
• The Nit - Picker: More educated, pedantic people prefer to progress from frame-to-frame, as if turning the pages of a book.
• The Tracker: These inquisitive and creative surfers prefer to navigate and explore by zooming, panning, scrolling and tracking through sites in all directions in search of the content they need. They are stimulated by the pictures, film clips and graphics they discover, rather than just by the written word.

Ling's understanding of website psychology is evident in the structure of her own website which provides an online playground for visitors to explore, discover and store information. Multiple indexes connect users to an array of video and cinematic links, some with tongue-in-cheek, spoof information such as the "Car-u-like-ator", a virtual fruit machine that gives car model suggestions.

Ling says that understanding website navigation is essential for an online business: "Very few people have the slightest idea about the mental processes that trigger buying impulses or cause people to click into or off a site and look elsewhere."

• Source: The Telework Association