iPavements Guide to the Web
35.5 ways to make your web site effective
Everyone else has one!
This may seem an inappropriate answer, but in truth commercial entities wanting to present themselves as substantive and profession are finding that well-designed and maintained web sites are a cost of doing business, just like phone and fax.
You are not alone.
When you need information, where do you go? It's the same with your clients. They go to the web for everything from health information to airline tickets. Make sure any information they need is on your web site.
Web sites are part of your identity.
Web sites control the impression clients receive. Very few clients will ever visit your office. Keeping the web site and other communication material at a very high level costs little extra and provides an increasingly positive view of your company. It's much easier to redesign a web site than to remodel an office complex. And no permits are required.
Web sites are real time.
Just as television and radio have late breaking stories, a web site can be updated 24 hrs a day. When information changes, the web site can reflect those changes. Make your web site your official document and refer users to it in your print materials for the latest information.
Web sites are promotional tools.
New products can be featured. Product lines can be explained in detail often difficult to do orally. Clients can obtain detailed information, take the time to absorb it, and feel no pressure from a salesman. A fully formatted brochure can be downloaded immediately. A web site is persistent, allowing clients to revisit for clarification. When they look up information for product A, they may take a moment to check into product B.
Web sites are cheap(er).
Keeping brochures, literature packs, and other items up to date is expensive. Loss due to packaging, transportation, handling, etc. is usually 15%. Obsolescence can account for an additional 25-50% loss. That run of 2000 4-color glossy brochures has now effectively been cut to 1000 and the cost has doubled. Shipping, mailing, and storage cost are extra. Once the design and structure work is done, a web site can be maintained at a very reasonable cost. Smaller printed brochures can give an overview and point clients to a fully developed web site for specifics.
Best in Class.
Every group has a "best" site on the web. It's where everyone exploring a subject goes first. (CNN.com, WeatherChannel.com, ESPN.com) Where does your site rank?
Only on the Web.
Your site can also serve as the information center for your internal needs. Dispersed sales and operations people can use the web to coordinate information with a much higher accuracy than traditional methods. Centralized information is backed up daily. Nobody ever left their web site on a Starbuck's counter.
Things to think about:
It's the Content, Stupid!
Most people go to the web for information, not entertainment. Certainly they are during business hours. They are looking for specifics. Decide early who is responsible for content and put them to work.
Write for the web.
Your site should be more than an electronic brochure. In fact, it should not look like your brochures. The best journalists write for the intended medium. The copy is much different for TV than radio.
It's in the mail.
Stephen Hawking loves black holes, web users don't. Direct feedback email to the most appropriate person. Larger companies may need different targets by product line or department. Answer the email.
Navigation
Keep navigation consistent throughout the site. Users should not have to guess.
I've been framed!
Frames are a legacy technology that has passed its prime. Printing is difficult. Bookmarking is impossible. Your developer should have to justify any usage of frames in writing.
Add content regularly!
Give users a reason to come back. Most people claim to have a better memory than they do. If your site is static, clients will believe they have already extracted all the information they need.
Give computers to all of your clients.
Or make sure your site works on the equipment and browser they already have. Have your developer use code that is supported on a wide range of platforms and browsers. Not all of your users will be using the latest and greatest.
Seeing Spots!
Flash is a popular technology, especially on consumer and video game sites. Flash is usable in a few well-defined situations for B2B sites. Don't pay to be your developer's entry in "WebCool's Site of the Week".
Happy Birthday!
With 10 million sites on the web, anyone can make one. Well, anyone can make a bad site. If your nephew's two-week web class has spawned his insatiable need to put something on the web, a year's web hosting fees and domain registration will make a great birthday gift. Your web site is a valuable business asset. Invest for the long term. Choose a developer who understands your needs and who can use professional tools.
I don't do windows.
New Windows - No
Popup Windows - Hell NoUpdate your content.
If you can't update the content at least update the last updated date. You don't want your clients thinking you have forgotten them even if you have.
Mr. Muzak
Listening to music in the car next to you is annoying. It's the same on the web.
It works at the library.
Make sure every page has a proper title. Who knows, someone may want to bookmark it.
Did you loose the blueprints?
Do some planning, plan, plan again, plan with your developer, plan some more, build site. It is easier to develop a site before it goes live than to continuously re-design it.
Holes in the fence.
Make sure to check links regularly. Broken links discourage further use.
Combat pilots.
The best brains aren't always connected to the best eyes. Many sites seem developed by people with the eyesight and dexterity of combat pilots. One in 6 men, and one in 250 women have some amount of color blindness. Many people wear corrective lenses. Make text big enough to read. Use complimentary colors that read well together. Watermarked or dark backgrounds make reading difficult.
Add More Content.
If you don't have someone who can develop content, hire a technical writer.
Construction Zone Ahead.
That sign doesn't make anyone happy on the road or the web. (I have seen an "under construction" site with a copyright notice. Talk about ego!) If it isn't ready, don't publish. Developers have their own space for experimentation.
Now Showing at Cineplex 12.
Movies are wonderful things. But they must add to the experience.
Monitor the Monitors.
Developers usually have huge screens and ultrahigh resolution. It's standard for the work they do, but your site should be able to accommodate a reasonable resolution.
I want style!
Talk to your developer about using cascading style sheets (CSS). They keep the entire site consistent and make future changes and standards updates much easier without a complete re-design. The advantages increase with the size of the site.
Make Sure You Have Adequate Content.
Un-Scenic Overlink
Don't overload a page with links. If you really need to, make a separate links page.
Alt(ogether now)
Put <Alt> tags on each picture. These tags allow you to more fully describe what's in the picture. Some browsers display this text if the mouse is held over the picture. Some people turn off their graphics for speed, other have visual challenges that preclude using graphics.
Scooby Doo Why Are You?
I have the cartoon channel at home. I don't need animated graphics on the web.
No Splashing in the pool.
Splash screens don't belong on your site. I clicked or typed to get there, I know where I wanted to be.
To PDF or not to PDF?
Some people like to scan online. Others like it in hand. Technical materials lend themselves to downloading and printing. Give people a choice.
PDFs do count as content.
Kill the Lawyers.
Don't overburden your site with disclaimers. If you wouldn't say it, don't display it.
My Bad.
Customize an Error 404 page to allow users to get to your home page. Not all of us are perfect typerists.
A picture is worth a thousand words . . . in bandwidth.
Pictures and graphics are a great part of the web. Graphs, charts, descriptive pictures allow you to put excellent information in the hands of your clients. But this all comes at a price - speed of downloading. Keep reminding your developer you want optimized graphics.
If it's text, use text.
Don't turn words into pictures. See above. Search engines cannot index pictures. The exception is your logo and marks, which should conform to your identity standards.
They make salad and dessert plates.
Don't try to put everything on one page. Your message gets diluted. Break your site into logical elements. Make it logical to your clients, not necessarily to your accounting or operations staff. Use another page or site for that.
Count Dracula
You don't need counters. They suck bandwidth and can hang a page if the counter server gets overloaded.
Burn the hive.
Buzzzzzz. If you use jargon, make sure it's your client's jargon.