Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
In terms of selection and price, it's hard to dispute that Walmart has a good thing going. Walmarts, and Super Walmarts in particular, have such a wide selection of merchandise that they carry pretty much everything you might need.
But it's not enough to have everything. Walmart continues to be successful not only because of its prices and products, but also because of its careful organization. In most Walmarts I've visited, I don't have to walk around the whole store to find what I'm looking for. (Well, except that time I was sent on a search for a fondant roller. Long story.)
Thanks to careful store layout planning and plenty of labeling, customers can find what they need without making a day trip of it – which is important to busy shoppers.
Organizing Your Website
If you've got a complicated website with lots of pages and content, congrats. You've got an impressive gold mine that's likely to draw in lots of customers – just like Walmart does. And for those customers who are bored/procrastinating/internet obsessed, it offers plenty to explore.
But for those customers who are busy/multitasking/shopping around, time's at a premium. So making sure that your pages are logically organized makes your website accessible and user friendly for them, too.
When an internet user arrives at your website, he should have no trouble finding what he's looking for because of careful organization and clear labels. Navigation buttons to important pages should be highlighted and drop-down menus should organize the remaining pages.
The Best of Both Worlds
When you have a website rich in content and functionality that is also well-organized, you've got a site that will appeal to everyone. Customers who need to quickly check a price or get a quote can get in and out, while customers who like to browse will have plenty to look at.
It's just like when you go to Walmart. Walmart caters to both types of customers – the Express Line crew and the bargain hunters who stroll through the whole store and collect a cart full of goodies.
And by having both the selection and the organization that appeal to so many, both Walmart and your website can continue to impress both types of customers and bring them what they need.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
How to Really Test the Effectiveness of Your Website
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Your friends probably all have the link to your website. And I'm sure you've probably asked them at one time or another, “So...what do you think of my site?” And chances are, depending on the types of characters you associate with, the response was something along the lines of “It's great!” or maybe “It's sweet!” or maybe even “Have mercy!” (if you happen to be friends with Uncle Jesse).
And yeah, that probably gave you a 10-second ego boost, but it didn't give you a whole lot of information about the strengths and weaknesses of your site's usability.
Next time the topic of your website comes up with your friends, here's how you can make it a little more productive.
That's What Friends Are For
Friends make great guinea pigs when it comes to testing out your site. Let's say the primary goal of your website is to collect contact information so you can add visitors to your mailing list. If the form for that is located on your “Contact Us” page, you need to make sure that a visitor to your site can get there quickly and easily.
So enlist a friend to pretend to be a customer. Set him up at the computer, tell him his goal is to get to the “Contact Us” page, and set him loose. And then just watch. Watch his face for signs of confusion or frustration, take note of where his cursor is and where he eventually clicks, and measure how long it takes him to accomplish the task. And if he's a really good friend, ask him to navigate to the form from various different parts of your website, and take note of how that goes.
This basically gives you the chance to see how a real person interacts with your site. Was it a quick and painless experience? Or was it a challenge?
Your Friends Might Be Too Nice
The truth is, if you ask your friends for their opinions about your website (or your clothes, or your haircut, or your significant other, for that matter), they're probably going to tell you what you want to hear. But if you ask them to use the site and watch them in action, you're more likely to find out the truth about your site.
Your friends probably all have the link to your website. And I'm sure you've probably asked them at one time or another, “So...what do you think of my site?” And chances are, depending on the types of characters you associate with, the response was something along the lines of “It's great!” or maybe “It's sweet!” or maybe even “Have mercy!” (if you happen to be friends with Uncle Jesse).
And yeah, that probably gave you a 10-second ego boost, but it didn't give you a whole lot of information about the strengths and weaknesses of your site's usability.
Next time the topic of your website comes up with your friends, here's how you can make it a little more productive.
That's What Friends Are For
Friends make great guinea pigs when it comes to testing out your site. Let's say the primary goal of your website is to collect contact information so you can add visitors to your mailing list. If the form for that is located on your “Contact Us” page, you need to make sure that a visitor to your site can get there quickly and easily.
So enlist a friend to pretend to be a customer. Set him up at the computer, tell him his goal is to get to the “Contact Us” page, and set him loose. And then just watch. Watch his face for signs of confusion or frustration, take note of where his cursor is and where he eventually clicks, and measure how long it takes him to accomplish the task. And if he's a really good friend, ask him to navigate to the form from various different parts of your website, and take note of how that goes.
This basically gives you the chance to see how a real person interacts with your site. Was it a quick and painless experience? Or was it a challenge?
Your Friends Might Be Too Nice
The truth is, if you ask your friends for their opinions about your website (or your clothes, or your haircut, or your significant other, for that matter), they're probably going to tell you what you want to hear. But if you ask them to use the site and watch them in action, you're more likely to find out the truth about your site.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Keep Your Customers Coming Back
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Everyone seeks ways to increase website traffic. From SEO to advertising, there are myriad ways to drive people to your website and get your name “out there.” But what about your current customer base? What motivation do they have to continue to visit your website?
Sending reminders to check back in on the website is a good first step to increase return traffic. Try including an offer for a “customers only” download. It creates a feeling of “exclusivity” and adds value to the customer’s account with you. Everyone wants to feel special, like they’ve got something no one else has. If you make this download something incredibly useful to your customer, they will jump at the chance to download a new tool their competition doesn’t have.
Consider incorporating Smartphone apps into your website, or other downloadable tools. If the download is something that will help customers find your products, utilize your services, or make payments easily, customers will keep returning to see what new, useful downloads you are offering. “Customer only” downloads show that you care about your clients’ time and resources and work to develop innovative ways to increase their productivity.
Everyone seeks ways to increase website traffic. From SEO to advertising, there are myriad ways to drive people to your website and get your name “out there.” But what about your current customer base? What motivation do they have to continue to visit your website?
Sending reminders to check back in on the website is a good first step to increase return traffic. Try including an offer for a “customers only” download. It creates a feeling of “exclusivity” and adds value to the customer’s account with you. Everyone wants to feel special, like they’ve got something no one else has. If you make this download something incredibly useful to your customer, they will jump at the chance to download a new tool their competition doesn’t have.
Consider incorporating Smartphone apps into your website, or other downloadable tools. If the download is something that will help customers find your products, utilize your services, or make payments easily, customers will keep returning to see what new, useful downloads you are offering. “Customer only” downloads show that you care about your clients’ time and resources and work to develop innovative ways to increase their productivity.
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Most Popular Search Engine, Google, and How it Got That Way
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Google is, hands down, the world's most popular search engine. And we're here today for no reason other than to give it a shout out.
There are a lot of factors that make it the favorite. For starters, it's fun to say. (Go ahead, yell it. Goooooogle!) And it's easy to use. And it allows you to limit your search results to images or videos or maps or shopping results. And it's tied to a really great e-mail system, Gmail. And it's got other fun features like Google Analytics, Google Earth, and Google Docs.
But beyond all those perks, the number one thing that makes it stand out is its effectiveness as a search engine. When Google delivers results to a web surfer, he's usually satisfied with their relevance. Through continuous testing and improvement of its ability to sift through results, Googlers are finding what they seek on the Internet. And thanks to frequent changes to the algorithms that allow Google to deliver results, Google remains awesome even as new content is added to the web.
Google is, hands down, the world's most popular search engine. And we're here today for no reason other than to give it a shout out.
There are a lot of factors that make it the favorite. For starters, it's fun to say. (Go ahead, yell it. Goooooogle!) And it's easy to use. And it allows you to limit your search results to images or videos or maps or shopping results. And it's tied to a really great e-mail system, Gmail. And it's got other fun features like Google Analytics, Google Earth, and Google Docs.
But beyond all those perks, the number one thing that makes it stand out is its effectiveness as a search engine. When Google delivers results to a web surfer, he's usually satisfied with their relevance. Through continuous testing and improvement of its ability to sift through results, Googlers are finding what they seek on the Internet. And thanks to frequent changes to the algorithms that allow Google to deliver results, Google remains awesome even as new content is added to the web.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Learning from Drake
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Here's an important rule of thumb: If the marketing theme you use on your website would fit in on the “Headlines” segment of the Jay Leno show...rethink it.
Iowa's Drake University has developed a new “D+” logo that graces the cover of its viewbook and was formerly displayed on its website. According to a screenshot from the university's website displayed in this article by Brett Michael Dyke, the university used the “D+” as part of the slogan, “D+ The Drake Advantage: your Potential + our Opportunities.”
But with the obvious connotations of a D+ in the world of education, many have questioned the school's choice to display a D+ so prominently, and an article by the Associated Press stated that some faculty, alumni, and students are among those showing their disapproval.
Good thing it's not called Frake University.
Of course, some will point out that people are talking about Drake University more now than they ever have. But I'm not sure about that “any press is good press” argument when it comes to an educational institution...or many other types of businesses.
Bottom line – if you're thinking about rebranding, look at all the implications of your new marketing theme before you commit.
Here's an important rule of thumb: If the marketing theme you use on your website would fit in on the “Headlines” segment of the Jay Leno show...rethink it.
Iowa's Drake University has developed a new “D+” logo that graces the cover of its viewbook and was formerly displayed on its website. According to a screenshot from the university's website displayed in this article by Brett Michael Dyke, the university used the “D+” as part of the slogan, “D+ The Drake Advantage: your Potential + our Opportunities.”
But with the obvious connotations of a D+ in the world of education, many have questioned the school's choice to display a D+ so prominently, and an article by the Associated Press stated that some faculty, alumni, and students are among those showing their disapproval.
Good thing it's not called Frake University.
Of course, some will point out that people are talking about Drake University more now than they ever have. But I'm not sure about that “any press is good press” argument when it comes to an educational institution...or many other types of businesses.
Bottom line – if you're thinking about rebranding, look at all the implications of your new marketing theme before you commit.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Ups and Downs of Focus Groups
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Since websites are built to be used by all types of people, it makes sense that a variety of folks should give a new website a try during the development process. One way to do this effectively is to call together a focus group and gather feedback about how your website runs.
When focus groups are called into service, a few different things can happen.
And Some of Those Things Are Good...
A lot of positive things can come out of a focus group. When the group comes to a consensus about an element of your website that needs to be reworked, you've struck focus group gold. If each member of the group independently has the same hang-up, you know it's time to patch up that part of the site and that doing so will make your site more user-friendly.
And focus groups are especially good at coming up with constructive criticism about names of pages and names and locations of navigation buttons. If you can get some advice from your group about these elements, your group has done its job.
...But Some of the Things Aren't So Good
Sometimes focus group participants get a little carried away. If you've got a really outspoken crew with a variety of opinions, you can end up with conflicting information that just confuses things. It's quite possible that five focus group members could have five different opinions about what should be highlighted on the homepage of a site, and following all the advice would result in a page with too much clutter. Nothing kills a design faster than “Design by Committee,” and a focus group could generate a bunch of ideas that you'll need to wade through.
So does it make sense to run a new website past a focus group? Sure. I just don't recommend taking all of the advice given and running with it. It's cool to listen to and consider a variety of ideas as long as you just go forward with the best ones.
And who should you invite to participate in the focus group? I like this crew (although Binky's going to need to watch his mouth.)
Since websites are built to be used by all types of people, it makes sense that a variety of folks should give a new website a try during the development process. One way to do this effectively is to call together a focus group and gather feedback about how your website runs.
When focus groups are called into service, a few different things can happen.
And Some of Those Things Are Good...
A lot of positive things can come out of a focus group. When the group comes to a consensus about an element of your website that needs to be reworked, you've struck focus group gold. If each member of the group independently has the same hang-up, you know it's time to patch up that part of the site and that doing so will make your site more user-friendly.
And focus groups are especially good at coming up with constructive criticism about names of pages and names and locations of navigation buttons. If you can get some advice from your group about these elements, your group has done its job.
...But Some of the Things Aren't So Good
Sometimes focus group participants get a little carried away. If you've got a really outspoken crew with a variety of opinions, you can end up with conflicting information that just confuses things. It's quite possible that five focus group members could have five different opinions about what should be highlighted on the homepage of a site, and following all the advice would result in a page with too much clutter. Nothing kills a design faster than “Design by Committee,” and a focus group could generate a bunch of ideas that you'll need to wade through.
So does it make sense to run a new website past a focus group? Sure. I just don't recommend taking all of the advice given and running with it. It's cool to listen to and consider a variety of ideas as long as you just go forward with the best ones.
And who should you invite to participate in the focus group? I like this crew (although Binky's going to need to watch his mouth.)
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