Your Perfect Website
I’d begin with some obvious questions. Do you like your company’s website or your own website, for that matter? Are you happy with it? Do you like your competitor’s website better? If so, why?
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| Rajaram Rajendran |
In the light of these pestering questions, if you’re contemplating re-designing your website or getting one for your business, I hope the following paragraphs help in some way. Some are tips, some are facts, some are just plain info. Read through, and maybe you’ll find something useful.
Random Info
For some reason, a trait that I see in a lot of people talking about their website is that they seem to think the user is browsing through their site. And only their site. With undivided attention. Reading through all the text, happy to find ‘creatively’ placed images that match the text and clicking more and more buttons. Just what they want him to do. Apologies, on behalf of all users. Nobody does that. At least, not anymore.
The problem with the website is, the user is there by choice. Unlike a paper ad, where it is right in front of him while he’s reading other stuff, or a TV commercial which interrupts him while he’s watching a movie, this one is there all the time. All day, every day. And the user is there because he wants to be. So you’ve already won. Now just make sure the site does what it’s supposed to do. In other words- Don’t mess up!
Interactivity
This single term has been used and misused a lot. A lot. “My site has to have a high interactive quotient.” Of course, clicking buttons or anything to do with the mouse is interactive, right? But here’s the problem— evey website is. Users will click buttons. If they dont like what they see, they’ll click more buttons. They will also open other sites, which probably have more ‘interactive quotient’ than yours. Stop trying to force information down the throat of your user. But just make sure it is easily accessible in case he wants it.
Stop Competing for ‘Stickyness’
‘Stickyness’ is another term. Why but? It is not about ‘how long’ someone stays on your site. It has never been. I recently went to a website of a service company. It convinced me about the service right away. I went to the contact section. I took the number down and closed the page. The site is a success! How long did I spend— less than 30 seconds. How was the site a success— it convinced me. It looked authentic. It looked honest. There were no catchy taglines aimed at manipulating my mind into buying the service. There weren’t images of happy people smiling at me. There was no boring text about how great the service is. Sometimes, you’ve to let go of the regular ideas and present yourself in a different way.
Bounce Rate
The above example. Stastics would show that I ‘bounced’. Reality would say something else.
How to deliver?
Flash or HTML? IPads or netbooks? Optimize for broadband or data cards? Should the site be visible on mobiles? Here’s the catch. You cannot compromise and still be awesome. Do not worry about all these, understand your visitors first and deliver accordingly. Make sure you deliver good content and in the right way. Do not worry about getting people to your site. People would get to know. Worry about what you should do after you get them there.
SEO (aka Search Engine Optimization)
Now, before you go ahead and spend a fortune on this, evaluate the need first. Yes, Google is our best friend. But not for everything. If your business is local or you already know who your customers are, do not struggle to get your website on the first page. Understand the difference between ‘search engine visibility’ and ‘search engine optimization’. Evaluate the percentage of business that you’d get out of someone searching for you online and reaching out to you for your product or service. If you don’t see much, do not walk that path. Focus on other more important things that you could do online.
Let People Do the Talking
Your visitors are the ambassadors of your site. This is where an ‘experience’ works, a good one at that. A bad one will ensure a lot of lost visitors. Unlike the other mediums, web is fast. Give your users a pleasant experience and they will do the rest for you. There are one million blogs, communities, and other good places, where you can’t reach but they can. If I like the way a site looks or the way the information is delivered or if it simply makes me feel good, I share it with other people. So do a lot of others.
Clichés
I swear, if I see one more website with a hand holding a globe, I’ll judge the company for lack of thinking. Same with a girl wearing headphones and smiling, a rotating globe, a lot of ‘people-like-figures’ holding hands, a graph showing progress, a quote from the CEO stating the ‘mission & vision’ of the company in annoyingly long meaningless words. Think better!
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The writer is an entrepreneur, designer, digital artist, wannabe musician and a jack of all, who thinks black & white photography is very cool.
To write to the author, please send an email to dare@cybermedia.co.in with the subject line 'Rajaram Rajendran'.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are that of the author and do not represent the magazine's.
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