Here at Red Helmet, we’re a merry little bunch of people who love our jobs and exceeding customers’ expectations- it makes us smile making them smile. And they usually give us tea and cake.
Sometimes however, people want to build their own websites- which is fine, you know where we are if you ever need any help! This week's blog is especially for those of you who are bravely building your websites alone for the very time or have finished your own website already and need some feedback of some kind.
We're often asked to give people feedback but sometimes are deluged with questions, so as a result we've compiled a small check list of the questions we
usually ask for you to apply to your own website.
It’s not that we don’t want you to come and see us, but when you’re on the internet at late at night and you think we can help you with your website, we can’t at that moment in time. We’re not being rude. We’re asleep.
It’s not that we don’t want you to come and see us, but when you’re on the internet at late at night and you think we can help you with your website, we can’t at that moment in time. We’re not being rude. We’re asleep.
PS - If you visit The World's Worst Website Ever, you can see some cracking examples of utterly horrible website design features. Whether you have just one faux pas or several that you recognise on The World's Worst Website Ever, chances are that you probably need to rethink your whole design.
1. Is your website clear?
Of course, you’re going to agree it is, so perhaps the best way to gauge this is have someone with look it over
with ‘fresh eyes’, and there’s no more ideal person than a total stranger. They don’t know you, and so won’t feel
inclined to tell you nice things to make you feel better and will be totally honest whilst dissecting your
virtual work of art. NEVER ask your friends or family to review your website if you want a genuinely honest opinion.
There are three ways of doing this; you can ask a friend of a friend, someone whom you've never met before and who doesn't know of you, to fill in a quick survey via your mutual friend.You don’t have to use these questions word for word, but something along these lines will give you a pretty good idea of how your site appears to others:
1. What does the company do?
2. How easy did you find the site to navigate to what you wanted?
3. Do you like the logo/trademark?
4. Do you like the colour scheme?
5. Do you like the layout?
6. Was the text on each page clear, informative and legible?
7. (If there is an online catalogue) Were the images and product descriptions helpful and explanatory?
8. Is there anything that you disliked or would put you off from purchasing goods from this site?
9. Is there anything you really liked about this website?
10. Would you purchase goods from this website in the future?
Now armed with your website address and a list of questions, you can either publish the survey to a Facebook Note on your personal profile (and perhaps reference it in a Twitter update for extra traffic?) and pass the questions and web address onto some trust friends who are willing to get their colleagues/friends to rate the site for you.
The second option is by braving the internet and publishing
the address of your website and your survey on Facebook Notes or a similar plug-in. You’re probably best using
your personal profile for this as you don’t want to give potential customers on your Facebook Page the
idea that you don’t know what you’re doing! This way you’ll get a mixed bag of answers, as some people will
obviously know you personally and others on your friends list will be acquaintances and colleagues so will
probably be more honest in their opinions.
The third and final option is the cheapest, and equally the bravest option - to ignore getting a review in and rely solely on the opinions of your customers as and when they visit your website. In theory, if you have correctly set up the back of it in terms of social media, meta tags, keywords and other such trappings, you can expect a minimal amount of traffic, however, if your website looks and functions badly and you don't realise, there's a chance that you miss out on some of the potential custom as a result. Bad website design speaks volumes about your company!
Perhaps you could offer those taking part in your survey a discount on products and services, or if they’re business owners too- a link exchange (or Facebook Page 'Like' and a follow on Twitter) which would be beneficial to their own website. There’s also plenty of business networking sites with forums dedicated to users rating each others’ sites- maybe you could post your survey up there too?
Allow a couple of weeks for the research to be returned and from the information learned, plan any necessary changes. Try not to get disenchanted with any bad comments and try and view it all as constructive criticism, and enjoy the positive comments which will confirm that you and your business website are indeed on the right path.
2. How does your website look, aesthetically speaking?
Log onto your website and you’ll obviously hit the homepage first. Now look at it through squinted eyes, or if
your eyesight is bad anyway, take your glasses off. When you see your front page this way, your attention will
be held by the colours and layout of bars, menus and subtitles as opposed to the text.
Now that you can see it this way, ask yourself honestly if the colours and layout used on your front page are
aesthetically pleasing. This is, of course, a very difficult factor to get just right. Like watching an episode
of Changing Rooms in the late 90s, some people really admired Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowens’ finished projects- they
were bright and colourful, stylish and trendy. But on other occasions, the inhabitants of the room that Lawrence
had worked on were aghast with the results- they hated the brash colour scheme and the abstract designs.
Still squinting, flick through the various pages of your site. Are the colours smooth and applicable to your
business or are you blinded by primary brightness? Is the layout consistent on every page? If it’s not, it should
be! If your website at this point is still within the pen-and-paper stage, you’re at an advantage already.
Design
the template for your front page and use this as you create each new page to ensure your site is fully consistent
the whole way through, and that all of the links within the template, such as any breadcrumbs, navigational
buttons and menu bars are current, up-to-date and take you were you should go.
3. Is your website copy appealing?
Website copy is the term used to describe the text on your website. It’s all very nice having a stylish site with
nice colours and lots of pictures, but what about the text? Is it informative, factual and in some way (of course
this applies to the nature of your company) entertaining? Or is it mostly copied across most of the pages on your
site? If the latter applies- shame on you!
If a potential customer visits your website, and decides to wade in
deeper that just your home page, you need to deliver more information to them, as that’s obviously what they
seek- some copied text does not satisfy that urge.
Equally, if you have a lot of information to display, such as the inner workings of a specific product, or the
different aspects of a procedure or service you’re supplying, then use bullet points and short, factual
descriptions to get the information across. Try not to fill the page with large paragraphs of text, which can be
daunting to some visitors.
Finally, on the subject of website copy, SPELL CHECK is a thing and you must use it. You would be surprised how many don't and even worse, how many slip into 'txt speak' when they're putting together their site.
The easiest way to check your text is to write it all in Microsoft Word, and spell check all of the text when you finish, before copying it (CTRL + C to copy and CTRL+V to paste) into Notepad (to remove the formatting) and then cutting it from there to paste onto your website.
4. Has anyone used your site yet?
Obviously, if your website is still in the pen-and-paper stage, this doesn't not apply to you yet, but it’s worth
making a note to follow this up in the future. However, if your site has been active for a while, take the time
to contact some of your existing customers to provide you with a testimonial.
The best way to contact people in this way is to give them a call if you have their contact details and ask them
to quote you a testimonial over the phone. This way you are more likely to get an honest testimonial, probably
served with a dish of feedback on the side and a nice five star relish- that’s opposed to emailing strangers
and expecting them to take the time out of their busy day to rate your website and services.
You could sweeten the favour with a discount or perhaps a link from your site back to theirs- this alone will
encourage many of your previous customers to take part. A stranger is only a friend you haven’t yet met, and
you’ll find that most people are happy to give their opinion on something when asked personally, and it builds on
your professional relationship with your customer, ensuring that they’re more likely to return to you for more
business in the future.
Once you have collected a number of testimonials, say eight or nine, be sure to put these on a separate page of your site, or if the testimonials discuss a specific product or service, perhaps include them on the relevant page? Customers are more likely to purchase goods if there’s an honest review provided alongside the product specifications.
So now you've been through your own website with a fine-toothed comb you've made (or at least plan to make) any recommended adjustments?
Good stuff.