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20 Tips for Creating a
Customer-Friendly Web Site
by: Christopher Smith
What annoys an Internet
user the most? A quick unscientific survey
of a local Internet café suggests the top
three turn-offs are:
-
Sites that are very
slow to download;
-
Ones that are confusing
to use;
-
Sites that do not
contain the promised information;
The single most common
reaction to sites like these is that the
visitor very quickly moves on to another web
site. Clearly, if you get things wrong there
is usually no second chance.
How can you avoid this
happening to your business? Well, here are
twenty tips to help you when designing or
redesigning your company’s web site.
Start with a clear
understanding of the purpose of your site.
Is the aim of your site
to sell, entertain, or inform? The design of
your site should be consistent with its
purpose. The requirements for a site selling
software online will be very different from
say the web site of a local community
newspaper.
Plan the site with the
customer in mind.
Imagine how your
customers (existing and prospects) will use
your site. Consider their reasons for
visiting and their needs. Something that
looks logical to you may not appear so to a
first-time visitor.
Design for cross-browser
compatibility.
Although Internet
Explorer dominates, do not overlook those
people who use alternatives such as Mozilla,
Opera and Netscape. Make sure your site can
be viewed in other browsers; that way you
will not unintentionally reduce the number
of visitors to your site.
Choose simplicity over
complexity.
Unless you are a design
company showcasing its skills, keep things
simple. Visitors (especially frequent ones)
may not be impressed by your complex
animated graphics especially if they serve
no apparent useful purpose. Make it simple
for visitors to get to the content – that is
what most of them are coming to your site
for anyway.
Make the navigation
intuitive and easy to use.
This is probably one of
the two most important aspects of designing
a web site, the other being content. Make
your site’s navigation logical and clear.
Ensure the most important and most
often-accessed information is easy to find.
Link names should be concise and
self-explanatory. Test navigational links to
make sure they work and keep them
up-to-date.
Your site should be as
visually appealing as possible.
Visual appeal is
subjective but the design of your site will
undoubtedly influence customers’ perceptions
of your business as a whole. An uncluttered
layout, careful choice of font size and
colors and appropriate use of graphics and
images should go a long way to ensuring your
site creates a good impression of your
business.
Apply a consistent design
or ’look and feel’ to your site.
Keep design consistent
across your site unless you want your
visitors to ask themselves whether they have
wandered into another company’s site by
accident.
Integrate your web site
design with your offline branding.
For many, the Internet is
still an alien environment so reassure your
customers by applying the same branding
online as you do offline. After all, if you
have spent a lot of money building your
brand why spend more appearing to build an
entirely different online brand (unless, of
course, this is your intention).
Keep page size manageable
to ensure speedy downloads.
Online visitors’ patience
is measured in milliseconds and not everyone
has hi-speed or broadband Internet
connections. So, keep page sizes within
reasonable limits to ensure that they
download quickly. Optimize graphic size and
avoid putting an image on a page unless it
adds something for the visitor.
Ensure your site’s
content reflects its purpose.
If yours is a sales site
for example, ensure that your content
concentrates on selling. Stay focused and
avoid the temptation to upload content that
is not relevant to your web site’s purpose.
Enable quick and easy
location of information.
Quite simply, most
customers will quickly leave your site if
they cannot locate the information they are
seeking. Internet users increasingly require
information to be instantly available and
there is no shortage of other sites eager to
take business from you. Think what
information customers are likely to want and
do not hide it away.
Make sure content is
relevant, accurate and up-to-date.
Provide accurate and
relevant content and keep it up-to-date.
Failure to do this will make your company
look inefficient and reflects badly on your
customer service levels. Search engines also
appreciate content that is updated
regularly.
Encourage interaction.
Get visitors to interact
with your site and spend more time on it.
Make a visit an interesting experience for
them by including useful online tools, etc.
Just make sure they are relevant to your
site.
Personalize your site.
Depending on the
technology you have available to you, it may
be possible to greet visitors to your site
by name and serve up content tailored
specifically to their needs. If you can do
it then do so.
Invite dialogue.
Give your customers the
opportunity to contact you via email, online
forms, a call-back/call-me facility, web
chat, etc. Ask for their feedback via online
surveys and feedback forms. Invite them to
subscribe to a customer newsletter.
Acknowledge customer
contact.
It is common courtesy to
say ‘thank you’. Very little effort is
required to set up an email auto-responder.
When requiring customers to complete and
submit a form, make sure there is a ‘thank
you’ page or pop-up. It reassures the
customer that you have received their
communication and does not leave them
wondering whether or not your site is
working properly.
Make it a ‘seamless’
experience.
Aim to give customers the
same level of service online as you give
them offline. Your goal should be to
facilitate the customer’s interaction with
your company and allow them to choose how to
do business with you. You know that
customers are your most valuable asset and
that retaining them is vitally important.
Give your customers
support.
Reassure visitors to your
site by providing elements such as help
pages, FAQ’s, a site map, terms of use and a
privacy policy. They will appreciate it.
Inspire confidence.
Ensure that your site
works properly and its content is
up-to-date. Check error messages make sense
and forms and data entry fields are logical.
Get someone to proofread your site and spot
any grammatical and spelling mistakes. The
quality of your site tells customers a lot
about the quality of service they can expect
from you.
Get to know your
customers.
Learn as much as you can
about your customers and the way they use
your site (and, if you can, find out how
they use your competitors’ sites). Then use
this learning to improve your site and
increase your return on investment.
The number of web sites
is growing every day and now just about
anyone can create one. If you want your site
to stand out from the rest, plan it
carefully and design it with your customers
in mind. Far too many web site owners just
do not bother.
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