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What Does Your Website Say About YOU?

Eight practical tips to avoid or eliminate expensive pitfalls.

by PC Smart (August 16, 2004)

Nowadays, everyone has a website. Gone are the days when a website meant you were actually selling products online. Your website is another way to brand yourself. A good one can mean a tremendous boost in brand recognition and brand loyalty. A bad one can turn off potential customers and curious visitors .

I will make a serious disclaimer here: I am not a web designer by profession. My observations are based on years of web crawling, researching, and spending way too much time playing with search engines. I have been subjected to some of the worst sites and been drawn into some of the best. Some are so addictive that you visit them at least daily and others you dread having to type into your browser because they never deliver the info you need in the manner you would prefer. So, grab your long board and let�s go surfing....

Bells & Whistles. Let's begin with the obvious turn-offs, the special effects people add to their site because they think it increases excitement. Background music is a definite no-no. Not only does it prevent people from checking out your site while they are at work (like you have never done it!), but it is also beyond annoying. The tunes are usually canned, worse than elevator music and barely recognizable. So even if you think your products would be complemented by a polyphonic version of "Music Box Dancer," leave it off the website.

Remember the first time you did a Power Point presentation? The bells and whistles you added basically overshadowed the information you were trying to present. The same principle applies to your site: Keep it simple. Dump the expensive Flash intro and the moving targets; stick with the basics, let your content speak for itself.

Links. If you have "buttons" on a page, have them look like buttons. Don�t make the viewer scroll over each image on a page to check if it is a link. Place your "back" and "next" buttons in logical places on the page, like the top or bottom, not hidden somewhere in the middle. You want the navigation of the site to be as effortless as possible. I am sure you can name a sight you have been to that is impossible to navigate without all sorts of cyber contortions; I bet it isn�t on your favorites list.

Colors. Make your colors soothing and pleasant � nothing offends as quickly as a bright lime green screen with orange text. Along those lines, stick to simple, easy-to-read fonts. Save the Jokerman for your next birthday banner. People read text on a screen slower than on a page; don�t make them struggle.

New! Keep your site updated � a sure turn off for a potential customer is seeing that a sight has not been updated since its creation in 2001. If a page or area is under construction, just remove the links from the other pages. It is disheartening to see the "Under Construction" sign on a page, especially if it has been under construction for six months. Keep your catalogs updated, your projects fresh, and your seasonal message current. I cannot count how many times I have gone to a sight wishing me Happy Holidays and it is nearly March. This kind of neglect sends a message to your customers; is says, "We don�t care."

Contact. When you have a Contact Us section, include more than an email link. Place the address and phone number along with the department (or person) they can reach. Many times your customers' concerns cannot be easily handled with an email, or they are not fans of email communication. Many of us like to speak with a live human being, imagine that!

If you do receive customer service emails through your website, please answer them in a timely manner. I once received a reply to a query almost three months after I sent it; that told me a lot about the company and its method of operation.

If you have a registration form on your site, ask only for pertinent info. Don�t use it as a method of collecting inane marketing data; people can find that invasive and may conclude your site is selling their personal info.

Cookies. If there is a Cookie issue on your site, please list it clearly. Many times I have been unable to access a page because of the Cookies and it took a few tries to find out it was not me. Most of your customers are not savvy enough to figure out that they have to go to their options menu to allow cookies. They will just figure your site is not working and move on.

Newsletters. Email newsletters are great ways of communicating with your customers once they register on the site. But allow them to be viewable on the site also. Often, the new email programs will perceive them as spam and reject them. (And don�t inundate inboxes with newsletters; once or twice a month is plenty.) Chat rooms and message bBoards are a good addition to your site � but not if they are poorly attended or under supervised; skip them unless you have the personnel and interest.

Projects. Add some projects to your website to give your customers a reason to check the site regularly to see what is new. Maybe add a Viewer Gallery for them to display their work; people love to see themselves "in print" and will send their friends to the site.

The next time you are surfing the Net, turn a critical eye on the sites you are visiting. Take notes about what you like and dislike about each site. Then compare your findings against your own website.

Are you user friendly?

Note: PC Smart writes for art/craft industry consumer and trade publications, in addition to being a marketing consultant and designer. In her previous, non-creative life, she was a database systems designer for a pharmaceutical company. Her main goal in writing about technology has been the marriage of computers and traditional art/crafts. Specializing in consumer level designs, Pamela focuses on the use of graphics software, scanners, and printers to help the average crafter use her computer for more than an expensive email machine. She believes that technology should be used as a tool in creativity and not necessarily the final output. PC Smart can be reached at pcsmart@bellsouth.net.

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