|
(Written
for the Wizmo Daily News website, December 2000)
Six things your web developer wants you to know
By
Greg Irsfeld
After hours, Web developers
might readily discuss the sorts of challenges they face in
putting together effective sites, but they don’t always
share this with the folks who might benefit most from hearing
it — site owners.
To that end, here are six
things that Web developers (either on-staff or external
vendors), might wish that site owners knew.
1) Speed Thrills
Your office might have a
blisteringly fast T1; your suppliers and franchises might have
speedy DSL lines; your house might have Broadband cable. That
doesn’t mean everyone has high-speed internet connectivity.
When it comes to visitors
connecting to the Internet, dialing into an ISP over a modem
(either 56K or 33K) still prevails. And remember, having a 56K
modem doesn’t necessarily mean that it connects to the
Internet at 56K. Connectivity speed is limited by phone line
capability, which can be substantially less than 56K.
(Example: I connect to the Internet using a 56K modem, and the
fastest connection speed I’ve EVER attained is 37Kb/sec.).
Plan and build your site to
load quickly, and your site visitors — even those with fast
connections, but particularly the ones without — will
appreciate it.
2) Your corporate logo
doesn’t need to be that big
Nothing screams “Ego,” or
first generation Web site, like a corporate logo taking up 50
percent of your site’s home page. Yes, your logo needs to be
there. No, it doesn’t need to be as big as the board of
directors might want it.
Your home page is prime real
estate. Develop it wisely. If you need support for this, check
out the sites that have figured it out — Amazon.com,
CNET.com, Microsoft.com. Mimic what you think works.
3) Outrunning the bear
It’s an old joke: Two
friends face a threatening bear. First friend: “How do you
expect to outrun the bear?” Second friend: “Don’t have
to; only need to outrun you.”
Likewise, when it comes to
your Web site, you might not need to become the Amazon.com of
(fill in your product, here). Maybe you only need to make your
site better than those of your competitors. Visit their sites,
see what they’re doing — then make it so.
The Web is an arena that can
easily absorb as many resources as you’d care to deploy.
Remember “return on investment.” Be realistic. Don’t be
afraid to start small, and phase in your development. The
bottom line you save might be your own.
4) Remember the Web
demographic
Along those same lines, you
don’t need to build your site to entice the entire known Web
universe; you need only make it enticing to your target market
-- actually, only the part of your target market that’s
online.
While the Web demographic is
ever expanding, statistics show that folks online are better
educated, have more money, tend toward middle age (31-years
old or older), and are split evenly between men and women.
Apply this Web visitor profile to the demographics of the
audience you’re trying to reach, and develop your site
accordingly.
A few other things you might
want to remember about the Web demographic: CEOs don’t surf.
Indeed, no one is really surfing anymore -- no one has time!
People online are busy, and
on-task. They’re using the Web as a big consumer report.
They are looking for what they are looking for, and they
don’t want to waste a whole lot of time looking for it. The
good news: if you deliver what they’re looking for,
they’ll remember you.
5) Visitors don’t care
about what YOU want to tell THEM
Site owners might not like
this one, but here it is, anyway. When it comes to site
content, visitors don’t much care what YOU want to tell
them. Rather, they care about what THEY want to know —
commonly, a solution to their pressing interest, issue, need,
challenge or concern. And they want it quickly, so they can
get back to their lives.
Remember, if someone is
visiting your site, they are actively engaged in a task.
They’ve already had to turn on their computer, connect to
the Internet and maybe use a search engine or two. This level
of effort on their part differs greatly from, for example,
passively watching a commercial while munching popcorn on a
recliner between plays.
While folks watching the game
on TV might not mind the overly loud, obnoxious 15-second ad
spot designed to cut through the clutter and grab their
attention, someone who’s engaged online DOES NOT want to be
forced to sit through your 40-second Flash movie, or wade
through your company mission statement before they see if you
can help them. This sort of content can be there — indeed,
it might make sense to be there — just make sure it adds
value for them (or, at the very least, make sitting through it
a choice, rather than an obligation). If it takes too
long, count them gone.
The good news is, if you
figure this out before your competitors do . . . well, see
number 2, above.
6) Too many bells and
whistles can drown ANY message
Flash movies, animation,
streaming audio and video -- cool technologies? You bet!
Necessary to your Web site? Only if they add value . . . for
your targeted visitors.
Before commissioning studio
time for that video-clip of the CEO reading the latest
corporate news release, you might check out your site to see
what’s there right now. You might be better off confirming
that your URL has been registered with the major Internet
search engines, or that an articulate, customer-focused person
is regularly responding — within 24 hours — to visitor
inquiries in the “contact us” e-mail inbox.
Flashy
content is nice, but if done for its own sake, it can get in
the way of your message . . . seldom a good idea. Know
what’s on your site. Walk before you run. And don’t
underestimate the power of keeping things simple.
#
# # |
