A good web site is more than just pretty pictures. Make sure it works for your customers.
This may seem like a question with an obvious answer. We've all seen and used enough web sites to intuitively understand when one is "good" and when one drives us mad. Whether a web site is visually aesthetic or glaringly horrific is a matter of opinion, so we don't include "pretty pictures" on our list of what makes a good site. But there are a few things that make a web site "good" across the board, whether it is strictly informational or a complex ecommerce site.
Although the Internet is considered a visual medium, it is a myth that web sites should contain large graphics and minimal text. People who visit your site want information about your products and services. They want to be convinced that your product or service is right for them. They want to know that you are the expert. Your web site is an opportunity to prove to potential customers that you have what they need and that you know what you're talking about.
Too little information is worse for your business than too much. Visitors are capable of filtering information to find what they're looking for. One customer may be convinced of your expertise after a paragraph, but another may want paragraphs, essays and explanations worthy of a doctorate degree.
A content-rich site gives visitors the opportunity to read more extensively about your organization and learn something that may positively influence them. The key is to let your customers decide how much or how little information is necessary before they make a decision about you.
You've done some homework and you have dozens of beautifully written pages about your business. What you do with this information is equally important as how many pages you have and how they're written.
Information should be distributed over an appropriate number of clearly defined and well-organized pages. Too much information concentrated in too small a space is just as detrimental to a visitor's experience on your site as too little information. Nobody likes to scroll through large blocks of text searching for that one idea or piece of information they need.
Format your text in a way that facilitates reading on a computer monitor. People read differently online than they do in print. They tend to skip around and scan web pages for specific information rather than reading straight through. Many times, people will read only your headings or bullet points, stopping to read more when something is personally interesting or relevant.
Improve your site by breaking up large blocks of text into smaller paragraphs or multiple pages, create headings with unique styles, make appropriate use of bold or multicolored text (be careful not to overdo either) and use bullet points or numbered lists liberally.
If you've ever gone to a web site's home page, scanned through a couple of paragraphs and still asked yourself, "But what do they DO?" then you know how important it is to describe your business effectively.
Unless you are a huge multinational brand recognized on sight by an iguana, then your home page should clearly state the purpose of your organization. You can offer details later, but a visitor should never have to click around to figure out what your company does.
Assuming that you would never make such a mistake, what about the rest of your site? Is the writing geared toward a specific audience? Does it meet the needs of this audience, and not those of your CEO who has spent a weekend with a thesaurus and wants a Pulitzer for his rendition of your mission statement? The key to keeping people reading is to cut out the lingo and the jargon and the marketing hype and tell them what they need to know. To do this, you must know your audience. Decide if you are gearing your site toward middle class dog owners, children between the ages of six and ten, stay-at-home moms, self-employed contractors or rising corporate stars. Your audience should dictate your writing style, not your marketing department.
The ideology for good navigation is fairly straightforward.
Whether you run an informational, service oriented or ecommerce web site, you're doing it for a reason. Define that reason and then prompt your visitors to take action. A good web site needs a purpose to drive visitors to some intended action, whether it's to sign up for a newsletter, buy a product, request more information or refer a friend. Make it clear what you want your visitors to do, then prompt them to do it. A good web site instructs visitors to "sign up here" or "buy now". Even if it's something as simple as "contact us", make it an obvious directive, so visitors know why they're using your site.
Forms can serve a variety of purposes. They can be a place for visitors to submit questions, place orders, request price quotes, sign up for free newsletters, send feedback, and even provide you with a little bit of marketing information. A very little bit of information. Nobody wants to be bogged down filling out lengthy forms. If you can get visitors as far as your form, that's great news. Now don't drive them off by driving them crazy.
First, decide the purpose of your form. Then, decide the minimal amount of information that you need from someone who is using that form. If it's a contact form, do you really need a person's first and last names, date of birth, job title, phone number and ring size? Make the form so simple that a person would feel dumb not to fill it out and click "Submit". Naturally if your form is a more complex part of an eCommerce site, you would require additional information. But do stop and think about what information is truly important.
When you build a form, anticipate all the things that can go wrong and head them off before they do. What if your customer doesn't provide an email address? What if they make a mistake and the form fails? Some simple planning can ensure that your forms work for customers at that critical moment. For instance, if you require certain information, be sure to prompt customers to provide it so they cannot submit the form without it. In the event of an error, be sure to retain information that the customer has already completed. Nobody wants to go back and fill out the same information all over again.
Another good idea is to pre-populate as many fields as possible. This simply means controlling the information that a visitor can enter into a text box. For instance, don't give visitors the opportunity to enter the wrong abbreviation for the state they live in. Instead, supply them with a list from which to choose: NY, ME, CA. All fifty. You will never wonder where to ship something when you mistakenly get "MC" in the box labeled "state".
If the last article on your site is dated Any Time, 1999, it's time to start writing. Better yet, if there's nothing to say, eliminate that section entirely. Many businesses fall into the "latest trend" trap and feel they must be part of the newest fad without truly understanding its purpose or evaluating its impact. But outdated news and forgotten blogs portray a number of things about your organization, none of them flattering. It may seem as if your company doesn't care about its web site or the people using it. Or that you're simply too busy to provide good service. It may tell visitors that nothing much is happening with your company or that it's behind the times. Whatever the perception, nothing good can come of it. Either get someone writing, or get rid of the section. And no, "Coming Soon" is not an option. We've all seen pages that have been "Coming Soon" for the last five years. Doesn't inspire confidence, does it?
It's important to keep your site current. This applies to the entire site, not just the news and blogs. If you've discontinued a product, remove it from the site. If you list dates and times of special events, remove them once the date has passed. It is not helpful to see "Free cocktails in Building A! February 3, 2003." Much like outdated news, outdated dates tell visitors that you don't care, are too busy for them or are simply too preoccupied to notice your calendar.
You've followed the "rules" and you have a fantastic site. You're ready for the world to see it. Chances are, the world is going to discover your site through the search engines. Even customers who know your site's address may still go to search engines to type in your company name or web address to reach the site, rather than typing the address directly into a browser.
You don't care how it's done, all you know is that if a person goes to Google and types in "really great product", you want your site to be listed at the top. One of the key ways to ensure a good rank is to have a good amount of relevant information on your site. If you have quality, well organized and well-written content on your site, you have a better chance of being ranked highly in the minds of your visitors and in the search engine listings.
When dealing with search engines, you want to keep one important word in mind: text. Text, text, text. Search engines cannot "read" pictures. They cannot read flashing buttons or sparkling images or cool animations. Eliminate the bells and whistles and focus on the content. Chances are you don't need your logo to blink and sing the National Anthem.
Sounds obvious, but pay attention. If you haven't visited, used and scrutinized your competitors' sites, then you are missing a huge opportunity. You should be aware of what other organizations in your industry are doing, what works for them, what doesn't. This is also a good opportunity to look for "empty spaces" that you can fill with a new idea. Find out what your competitors are missing, then rescue your customers (and add a few new ones) by offering something that your competitors don't.
Now for the disclaimer: don't "follow the leader" when it comes to online marketing or you will look like what you are – one entity in a long line of many of the same. Figure out where your competitors are going and then take one extra step. Just because "everyone's doing it" doesn't mean they're doing it right. Use your competitors for the really-great-ideas and surpass them in every other way.
A good web site does not stand alone. It must be an integrated part of your marketing plan and an extension of your company's message, values and goals. Don't stop mailing your monthly newsletters just because you've posted them online. The key to marketing success is branding, and branding means repetition, and most importantly, consistency. You want your customers to recognize you as a great company both on- and offline.
Now that you understand the basic principles of good web site development, you're ready to begin planning a site that is relevant, organized, useful and an integrated part of your overall marketing and branding strategy.
If you're ready to start planning a web site that can work for your business, Contact Us for a free consultation.
Whether you know exactly where you want to take your business or aren't sure where to start, our planning and consulting services will outline your web needs, define marketing goals and determine an effective way to make it all work. Before you invest a single cent in developing a web site, we will define and document your business needs.
First impressions count. That's why you want a web site design that is current, attractive and fits your business image. Our graphical design services aim to provide quality imagery that will deliver your message and achieve your business goals. We believe that you should never compromise your site's objectives to fit it into a cookie-cutter mold.
There's a difference between how people read on the web versus how they read in print. When we write for you we take into account your audience and how they will be reading about you. Whatever the project we can draft, write and publish content that meets your business needs, speaks to your customers and fits your marketing.
Web site development encompasses everything from database design, content management system development, shopping cart and form programming, and site search and reporting. If this all seems a bit overwhelming, our process will help simplify it by defining in plain English what your site will do.
A content management system gives you editorial control over content that appears on your web site and can serve as a distribution tool for information. Having a content management system for site maintenance will save you time and money by simplifying recurring tasks and giving you in-house, real-time control over your web content.
We employ search engine friendly practices and follow industry standards for every web development project to ensure your site is crawler- and user-friendly right out of the box. If you are looking for improved search listings and more qualified traffic, we can help by analyzing your web site and analytics to find out where it needs improvement.
When we develop your web site we offer you the exclusive opportunity to host it with us. We manage our own servers and network and security appliances, which reside at top-level data centers so you don't have to worry about down-time. Our hosting environment is secure, backed up off-site daily and designed with search engine friendly features.
As a successful business owner you're always thinking ahead to new opportunities. Our support and maintenance services begin when you need a new feature, find a bug, or want to take advantage of new technology. We also offer regular testing of any application or program that we've developed to ensure that it continues to run smoothly.
Rahvalor Interactive, Inc. Location: Holmdel, New Jersey Phone: 732.615.0842 Fax: 732.210.0416 Contact UsSeminars