Managers' Corner: Keeping an Eye on the Bottom Line

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Planning and meeting industry businesses appear content with their websites, according to new data from the annual industry survey recently completed by Event Solutions.

“One trend we are seeing is that the frequency of website redesign is dropping steadily, meaning companies have become comfortable with their websites and aren’t seeing the need to constantly make major changes,” says John Baragona, president of Event Solutions.

But that doesn’t mean frequent website maintenance can be neglected.

As the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. That statement is especially true for business websites.

Customers worldwide are looking for products and services online, and there is no shortage of sites from which to choose. Business owners and entrepreneurs should perform periodic website maintenance to ensure that they continue to come off professionally and that the sites work hand in hand with furthering their business goals.

Here are the five most important elements of your website to keep in mind when evaluating its effectiveness:

• Quality Design — Because design quality can be subjective, a good recommendation is to cater your site design to your industry and customer tastes.

  For example, if you are selling scrap-book supplies, then a “homemade” feel for your website might be appropriate. Alternatively, if you are a dentist, a light, clean, simple layout will instill confidence in inquiring patients.

  Maintain your branding by using your logo, picking colors that match your other materials and including pictures that support the imagery you want associated with your business.

• Page Consistency — Regardless of the style of your site, the best indicator of quality design is page consistency. The Web can be a frightening place. When you click on a link in a Web page, it can take you almost anywhere. When your customers click on links within your site, add to their comfort level by making it clear that they are still on your site. The number one way to do this is to have a consistent page template by using the same colors, style and placement of page elements on each page.

  We make associations based upon color all the time. Keep it consistent, or have a good reason if you are changing them from page to page. A rainbow of colors can be overwhelming.

  Stick to one style, organic or linear. Organic elements use soft curves that flow together. Linear elements are straight with sharp angles. Either might be appropriate for your business, but pick one and stick to it.

  Keep one page template. When people visit your site, they become oriented to the site structure and expect the elements (navigation, logo, page headers, etc.) in the same place on every page.

• Site Navigation — Site navigation is the primary element in a professional website. If your customers cannot easily find what they are looking for, they will look elsewhere — and that usually means your competition.

  Ensure that you have a distinct navigation bar positioned either along the left-hand side of the page, along the top or a combination of both. Try to organize your content in as few categories as possible and use a table of contents page when the visitor clicks each category with a brief description of the category and links to subcategories with more information. To make it easier to maintain your site, it’s best to be able to add new subcategories as page content in the page without having to rework your site navigation bar each time.

• Site Activity — A stale website makes the rest of your business look stale. This does not mean you have to change the design of your website every month or even every year, but it does mean that you should keep an eye on the content. Does your website list an “upcoming event” from 2004? Is an old promotion still on the site? If you can change the sign on your store or the message on your voicemail, you should also have an easy way to change the content on your website.
• Credibility — Many factors can contribute to or take away from your trustworthiness online. Displaying outdated information is one thing, but others are just as glaring, if not more so. Broken images, bad links and misleading site navigation are all examples of things that weaken your credibility.

  Visit your site frequently to ensure that your pages are displaying properly, links are updated as things change and content is current. Place some testimonials and prominently display your contact information. List your e-mail address and always include a phone number. Make it clear that you are a real business and people can trust and contact you — and show it on each and every page.

Do some research and find the best website editing software or service for you. You should also have a professional developer resource available for questions and more complicated changes that you cannot do yourself. Some editing services include both do-it-yourself editing and expert developers when you need them.

Take a look at your site again — chances are you are already doing some of the above correctly. If you are doing everything right, congratulations! If not, take notes about what you would like to do better and consult a professional Web developer or website maintenance company about implementing these principles. The changes will not cost a fortune, but the results may produce one.

At a Glance

When evaluating a website for maintenance needs, here are the five most important things to check:

• Quality Design
• Page Consistency
• Ease of Navigation
• Site Activity
• Credibility

About the author: Andreas Thomson

Andreas Thomson is a website maintenance expert at Edit.com, a Web maintenance service provider for small businesses. For more information, go to www.edit.com.