Often clients ask me to ‘have a look at our website and tell us what you think’. Of course I oblige, but often through gritted teeth. Do they really want my honest opinion or do they just want confirmation they are going in the right direction? You see, the answer is rarely straightforward. It really does depend on what their business is and what return they want on their investment. When giving evaluations, the key questions I ask are:

What are visitors really looking for when they get to your site?
If you are selling products on-line, the answer is very obvious and up-front, but for many businesses what visitors seek is far more subtle. If the website is for a Law firm, a first-time visitor will want to see if they have expertise in the field they need, who the principals are and most importantly, do they look like people to form a lasting business relationship with? The main message that the site needs to convey here is credibility.

Is the site meant to be a self-contained on-line business that needs to constantly evolve or a ‘virtual brochure’ that only needs periodic amendment?
Whilst both are websites, one is doing a very different job from the other and needs to be evaluated from a different viewpoint. Some web ‘packages’ are becoming very affordable and centralise marketing activity. This is often the best way to go if you sell products on-line or have a regular newsletter emailed out to customers and prospects, as your website also becomes your client database for your business.

What’s compelling about the site?
The greatest websites are the ones that engage the viewer from the start, give them the information they seek and draw them back. This is the acid-test for your brand and also where the right amount of content with a well-organised heirachy is so important.

How much text should the site have?
Many web developers will tell you that the more content you have on your site, the longer people will stay there and the more likely they are to use you. I believe that websites are no different to books, magazines or brochures in this respect: organisation of the content is critical and usually ‘less is more’. You have to give people what they need in a few clicks or they are gone to your competitor. Yes, have plenty of content as long as it’s well written, but make sure the viewer can drill down easily to what they need, then they’ll come back again.

How easy is it to navigate?
This is where good design is essential to the success of the site. A simple layout with a logical path that leads the shopper to making a purchase, or gives the viewer the required information easily is paramount.

How important is SEO?
Not long ago, being on the first page of Google was seen as essential and large companies spent megabucks with search engine consultants in an effort to achieve this. If you are in a competitive market, trying to get your website to the top is almost impossible – irrespective of what you are prepared to invest. The top ten companies will always be on the first page, so is it really worth the money? If your business is more obscure, then it’s worth investigating further. But remember, search engines like Google change the rules all the time, so what gets you there won’t necessarily keep you there. If SEO is important, then this needs to be considered from the beginning to ensure the website is built to do the best job it can. If SEO is less of a priority, the designer can probably have more freedom in making the site distinctive and it may well cost less to build and maintain. This neatly leads to the next question...

How often is the site updated and who does this?
Essentially, there are two ways to go when building a website. Content-managed websites allow you to manage the text and images in-house, but you need to ask yourself ‘who will keep the information fresh and relevant and put in the hours on a regular basis? What is the real cost of doing this if it’s taking staff away from what they normally do? These site usually cost more to build. There is also a monthly service fee for this type of site. The alternative is a site built by the design company and up-dated by them on an ad-hoc basis. For sites that will be updated less frequently this is often a more cost-effective solution.

If you would like an honest and clear evaluation of your website, give me a call or send me an email.