Thursday, May 03, 2007 Toral: Making a great website By Janette Toral Digital Filipino
THE staging of the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards (digitalfilipino webawards.blogspot.com) allowed us to have a point of reference on observations and suggestions that website owners could consider in building their site.
This includes the need for management to participate in building the website.
They should care about their online reputation and ensure that it will reflect
what the company stands for and how its service can be used online.
Most chief executive officers today obviously do not understand or appreciate their websites, as they hardly visit them.
This creates a situation of ignorance.
Although they may know how their physical store works, how it looks, how business is done, these can’t be said about their online counterparts.
Website reviews should also be considered as a topic in boardroom meetings, with professional web designers providing advice as necessary.
Sites that use open source codes should be customized and fit to the look and feel of the company. This way, uniqueness and identity creation are achieved.
If the site has numerous products or contents, having a search feature
will help the users a lot in finding the products they need.
The terms of sale must also be fully disclosed to avoid surprises with buyers later on.
Content matters a lot. It should be up-to-date, informative, responsible and attuned to the purpose or theme of the site. It is inviting for the visitor to stay and learn more.
The site should not be content overloaded, as it will make the user tire easily.
Websites are encouraged to have a strong emphasis on providing further service and support to clients.
This is where cross-media customer communication should be harnessed or explored.
Visuals must be used wisely. A site does not have to be extravagantly designed but attractive enough to indulge its readers.
The site must also guide the user on where to go or how to navigate within.
This is where usability testing matters a lot.
The marketing aspect should be well thought of and consistent with one’s offline marketing strategies.
It is disappointing to see when the website is not aligned or reflective of the company in its offline world.
This cannot be done unless it is clear that it is serving a different purpose. Most sites were built without search engine ranking optimization in mind.
Websites must provide a means for contact using more than just one method.
But due to spam mails, a lot of companies are reluctant in posting e-mail address and fax numbers on their sites.
But careful thought must be given on missed opportunities that may result to this.
THANKS. Special thanks to Alleba.com’s Andrew dela Serna, Syntactics’ Stephanie Caragos, Engineer Joan Pinon, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s Maria Susan Dela Rama and ADOC’s Ryan Ulten for sharing their thoughts. (http://digitalfilipino.com)
