PlusOne - Musings of a marketer

I was asked recently to do a free website appraisal for a small business. To be honest it made me cringe.

Now, full marks to the guy for trying - he was self-taught in html and the site had been done a few years ago - but I certainly would not use his business based on his website. I’m not going to reveal the site, but will touch on some of the issues based on what a site should have:

Web sites need a consistent design
Design = consistency. People are assured by consistency, both with bricks and mortar and on-line. A neat, well organised site provides confidence. Having different font sizes and colours for text on each page, plus a different layout does not reflect well.

Approach from a customer’s perspective
All websites need to be about the customer - no different to a regular offline business. Look to meeting customer’s needs. Be customer centric.

Ensure images do your business justice
I’m not saying present false images, just make sure that the images portray your business in the best possible fashion. Also, ensure if your business needs to use representative images (like a web-hosting business) make sure the image has some relevance to the customer (if I see another computer box/ server pic on a web-hosting site - I’ll scream!). If you cannot take decent photos, pay a professional.

Qualify yourself
Sounds simple - but when adding properties to our hotel booking site, you’d be surprised the number that don’t state their star rating. Again - look to reassure customers. Include relevant organisation memberships etc.

Pay attention to text formatting
This is a little recognised aspect of web content - readability, scanability - it helps with search engines. Use:

• Headings and subheadings
• Bolding,
• Italics,
• Bullet (dot) points

Target your business
Think about your niche. This applies to the whole business structure, not just the website. Focus and maximise what makes you different and/or unique. Don’t try to be what you are not. Customers will see through this quickly - if not from th website, then from their first interaction with you.

By addressing these issues (of course there are more) then your business will benefit.

Need a third party opinion of your website - all you need to is ask