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| If only we could read minds. Courtesy Paramount Pictures |
The other day my wife emailed me a link to a “What’s Your Personality Type?” quiz (PersonalityType.com).
At first I wasn’t too interested but after hearing the results from her test I was intrigued and headed over to the site to take the quiz. It asked me a few questions about what type of person I am, such as do I often say whatever comes to my mind or do I hold things back? It also asked me questions about how organized I am and orderly I like my universe; I prefer orderly, however, with 2 young children running around all day . . . you get the picture 
So you’re probably curious as to what personality type I am, aren’t you?
I was awarded with the INTJ personality type. “Yes thank you, I accept this award and I’d like to thank my mother, father, beautiful wife . . .”
Ok seriously though, here’s what that means and how it all ties into understanding the psychology of your website visitors.
Where This Test Came From
After doing a little research, I found that the test PersonalityType.com puts you through is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
In short, it is a test to classify a person’s personality type which might aid in helping you figure out how you might act in a given situation as well as provide people of different types as a means to understand one another.
The box below shows the comparisons you are asked and classified into. For example, are you an Extraversion or Introversion? Do you gather information via Sensory or Intuition? etc.
| 4 Pairs Of Preferences | |
| Extraversion | Introversion |
| Sensing | iNtuition |
| Thinking | Feeling |
| Judging | Perceiving |
I don’t think the test on PersonalityType.com gives you an answer key as to what your combination classifies you as, however, here is what I’ve discovered:
| INTJ = Mastermind / Entailing | ENFJ = Teacher / Education |
| INFJ = Counselor / Guilding | ENFP = Champion / Motivating |
| INFP = Healer / Conciliating | ENTJ = Fieldmarshal / Mobilizing |
| ENTP = Inventor / Devising | INTP = Architect / Designing |
| ESTJ = Supervisor / Enforcing | ISTJ = Inspector / Certifying |
| ESFJ = Provider / Supplying | ISFJ = Protector / Securing |
| ESTP = Promoter / Persuading | ISTP = Crafter / Instrumenting |
| ESFP = Performer / Demonstrating | ISFP = Composer / Synthesizing |
How This Ties Into Web Design
After taking the test I made a connection between how I craft everything on my website for my target audience and how this tool helps me to better understand them.
As a webmaster, web designer, copywriter, entrepreneur, marketer, etc., part of being successful is getting into the heads of your target customers and understanding how they will respond to certain pieces of text, ads, banners, and so on that you create.
Inevitably, it is somewhat of a lost cause as you can never really get into the heads of your potential customers. However, with tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Keirsey Temperament Sorter, we can work off something.
As an example, let’s say you’ve discovered that your primary website visitors are ENFJs. You could then find out behavioral patterns they exhibit and tailor your offer to satisfy their needs – oh what’s that I’m saying again . . . you need to solve problems to succeed in business
So the question is, what type of people do you think your target audience is? In all honesty, unless you’ve put a lot of money into polling and personal interaction statistics, it’s probably not who you think they are.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Hi John – I find personality profiling interesting. I took a course on using it in selling. The trouble is, unless you have a continuous relationship with a customer, as opposed to selling them something on the first meeting, it’s not so easy is it?
And deciding the personality types of my site visitors would be a nightmare as everyone is so different. And with the ones who don’t comment it would be difficult to work it out.
I noticed you’d been posting less, as I’ve been checking by in case something was wrong with my feed reader. Don’t worry about it – i know you’re busy and I’ve noticed a few folk cutting back on posting. I think I’m going to have to too. We’ll all still be here when you come back.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Internet Presence: Do You Need One?
December 1st, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hey John,
Well I took the profile test and surprisingly I think mine was pretty accurate! Although they say my type only represent between 6-8% of the U.S. population, ahhhhhh is that bad or good? hehe My type ENFP which pretty much sums up my personality type. Very interesting.
Theresa
December 1st, 2008 at 8:02 pm
@ Cath – no, it definitely isn’t easy – we have to assume a lot of things, don’t we? Thanks for sticking around, I appreciate that and I’ll definitely be here.
@ Theresa – Definitely YOU! LOL. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. You’re always a positive person and have a great outlook on life, though, I might be biased because I’m your son!
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:54 am
quantcast.com can’t tell you about your reader’s Myer-Briggs scores, but it can tell you quite a bit else.
For example. take a look at http://www.quantcast.com/aplawrence.com
That tells me that more of my readers are Asian than would be expected. Why? I have no idea..
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Tony, your comment is pretty funny “Why? I have no idea” LOL.
Those sort of demographics are good to know as well. Perhaps many your visitors are Asian because you have a technical blog? It also looks like most of your traffic comes from the United States – so does that mean most people who visit your site are Asian-American?
The problem with statistics like this, however, is you have no real understanding of what your visitors are looking for – which is why you have no idea I suspect. You could try combining your stats programs with ClickTale to see where people are looking on your web pages and clicking.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Yes, I use Analytics. I hadn’t heard of Clicktale, but I’ve used CrazyEgg for the HeatMap kind of look-see.
You are probably right about the Asian tech factor but you may have misunderstood the Quantcast stats: I have a high percentage of Asians compared to other sites. The actual percentage is only 14% or so. So no, it doesn’t mean that most are Asian American, rather 70% are Caucasian.
Anyway, all these stats are good for something. But as I said to someone else today, the real measure is whether or not your site is doing what you want it to do. My site brings me consulting business, ad income and e-book sales. It’s doing its job.
That doesn’t mean I can’t help it do a better job by understanding my visitors better, of course. I’m always working at that.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Hi John – What a fascinating test. I’ve heard of this before but didn’t know it was online. Cool.
I hear you about reducing your posting. This week I cut out one day. We’ll see what happens, but so far I feel like I’m getting semi caught up on visiting some of my favorite blogs.
Barbara Swafford – Blogging Without A Blog’s last blog post..The Unseen Benefit of Commenting
December 4th, 2008 at 5:56 am
@ Tony – ah, gotcha
I didn’t realize that about the stats. And you’re right about your site, it needs to do it’s job, otherwise it’s fired, right?
@ Barbara – I hear ya, Barbara. I remember reading your post about how you were going to cut back some. It’s a tough job posting 5 times a week and running a business at the same time. It might be a bit easier if your only business was blogging. But then again, even if you’re a full time blogger it’s good to have some kind of cornerstone product.
Sorry too that I might not visit your blog as much this week and next, I’ve got lots to do – but I’m sure you understand that!
December 30th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Excellent post and some great insights on using Myers-Briggs to figure out your readers. I’m going to give this some serious thought for my sites.
Cheers
Jason’s last blog post..How a Colon Cleanse can Improve your Weight Loss
December 30th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Hi Jason. Glad you found it useful. The key to developing a great landing page is understanding your customers and what they are looking for and what they are not.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
You will find that thinkers and bloggers often test as INTP, INTF or something similar. I know this because I test borderline between those two. We tend to be wordsmiths with opinions on a wide range of subjects. It would make sense to create sites for types of personalities; however, I suspect it would be quite challenging to know that much about your visitors.
You may be interested in reading the Eisenberg’s books Call to Action and Still Waiting for Your Cat to Bark. Their suggestion that sites create paths for various personas is similar to the idea you express here. You’ll find the authors and information on the books at GrokDotCom.com, FutureNowInc.com and CatToBark.com.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..What NOT To Do With Your Existing Web Site When You Upgrade or Remodel
February 18th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I took the test and got the the end and it to view selected type and it won’t come up. However, I work for a company who has this very premise, so I already know my personality even if it’s not listed in exactly the same manner. This is very intriguing to me.
Debbie Yost’s last blog post..Special Exposure Wednesday – Sweaters
February 18th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
@Internet Strategist – we bloggers definitely have a wide range of subject areas, don’t we. Interested in something, I’m sure there’s a blog about it somewhere. And thanks for the links, I’ll check those out.
@Debbie – Hi Debbie, nice to see you here. It is interesting, isn’t it. As I’m sure you’re aware, there are so many different tests out there which test something different. Problem is, there are so many different ones I can never remember which is for what. hehe
July 4th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Thank you for given this great post….