Websights
January 2010 Construction Equipment Distribution www.cedmag.com 65 Five-Minu te Fixes to Improve Y our Web S ite Pick and c hoose fr om these s imple tip s to make yo ur site m ore user f riendly. If you've ever done some work around the house you know that there are typically two kinds of projects: The quick and easy kind and larger, more complex endeavors. Not being much of a home-repair guru myself, I tend to prefer the quick and easy variety, and often the results are just as satis-fying and productive. Obviously both types have their place, and they all deliver a measurable and visible sense of improvement when completed. Take that same line of thinking and apply it to your Web site. No matter how shiny and clean your site may appear to be, it is a safe bet that somewhere within all of those detailed pages with equipment information and service specials there are tweaks and adjustments that can be made to make it all come together better for you and your online customers. And just like home improvement, there are quick and easy fixes that can do wonders without requiring major overhauls. To make it even easier, I've broken down the areas to look at into the following categories: Copy, Usability, Search Engine Optimization, Design and Legal. There's no need to necessarily tackle all of these at one time, and it is possible to pick and choose what's needed at the time. Let's take a look at a few five-minute fixes that will help make your site look and operate more effectively: Copy We all know that content is king, and so let's begin with the words on your site. After all, content is what it's all about. n Repeat Yourself: Determine your key points and don't be afraid to make sure you say it loud and say it often. n Tell Them What To Do: It's up to you to lead those prover-bial horses to water and make them drink what you're selling. Make sure your copy tells them how. n Keep It Simple There's no need to make site content overly complex or confusing. Get to the point and drive the visitor to take action. Usability Don't make site visitors have to think too much or they'll leave quickly and may not return. n Consistent Navigation: That's the road map of your site. Make it simple and keep it consistent from page to page. n Add a Site Map: The addition of a text-bases site map not only makes it easier for site visitors to find their way around, it is also an invaluable tool for those all-important search engine spiders. n Test It You might think your site is perfectly logical, but the best test is to have an outsider take a look at it. Ask friends or family for feedback on ease of use, load times, etc. Search Engine Optimization What good is a Web site if no one can find it? n Say No To Frames: Not only are they a design taboo, clunky frames tend to make your site extremely difficult for search engine spiders to index properly. n Evaluate Meta Tags: Check out your Meta tag descriptions for each page, because often (though not always) these are what show up in search-engine results. Design It's important to keep things looking nice. n Above The Fold: It's an old news-paper adage that all the important info goes high on the page so visitors will see it. The same rule applies to your site, only think in terms of the screen display n Slow It Down: Avoid all of the latest digital glitz and gimmicks in favor of a functional set of pages that will load quickly for all users, regardless of their computer or Internet connection. n Minimize Choice: Don't offer too many options or you risk confus-ing the masses. As with one of my copywriting suggestions (see above), go with keep it simple. Legal Here's a very important tip. n E-mail Tactics: The CAN-SPAM Act. Read it. Learn it. Love it. If you aren't familiar with it you need to be. It is a 2003 antispam law that sets the rules for commercial e-mail, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop e-mailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations. There are explicit rules that need to be followed to stay within the law, and it is essential that you understand the CAN-SPAM Act. These quick fixes are just a few of the many, many things that can be done to tweak and polish your compa-ny site so that it not only becomes a more viable marketing tool for you, but that it presents a user-friendly experience for the online customer. rIch rosell is AED's Manager of Internet Services. He can be reached at rar@aednet.org. WebSights By rIch rose ll WebSights