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The average age of an Australian internet user is growing fast; catering for this shift is increasingly important.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 79% of Australians over the age of 15 are online – meaning adoption is way past the Early Adopter phase (According to the Diffusion of Innovations curve) and well into the Late Majority – at 84% adoption only the Laggards are yet to join!

In terms of age profile, 96% of 18 – 24 Year Olds are already online, so new audience growth will mostly come from older age segments in the coming years. In the past two years, 55 – 64’s joined the web at almost twice the rate of their younger counterparts.

This new older audience presents an interesting opportunity, by nature they are more considered and loyal (and/or resistant to change), and have an appealing cash pile at their disposal.

Winning the over 55’s is hard though, often they rely on personal recommendations and will Trial only after careful consideration, but they are worth the effort.

So here are six tips for appealing to an older user:

1. Encourage linger time, provide plain and simple T’s and C’s, lots of expansive detail
2. Include testimonials, the more the better (including Facebook ads as below)
3. Be sensitive with lifestyle shots, don’t alienate the older demo with youthful images, equally, avoid images of over 50’s, over 50’s think associate with people in their early 40’s!
4. Consider a larger, easy to read font
5. Leverage Facebook ads such as the one shown here, “friends as fans” work as a testimonial
6. Take care to provide a generous returns policy, over 50’s are considered and risk averse.