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Do you use a standard header and footer?
You should use a default header and footer that gets displayed on every page. A
great idea is to always include your phone number on the footer, so if prospects
want to give you a call, they don't have to hunt around for the "Contact Us" link.
Don't forget an ALT tag. Checking all your Images have ALT tags is a good way of
improving your Google ranking,
and seeing as though your footer is on every page, it's only going to give you a
leg-up.
Administratively, you only need one header file and one footer file. When you want
to place the contents of that file into another HTML page, you can simply use an
include:
e.g. <!--#include virtual="/includes/header.htm"-->
This way formatting and style sheets is easy to manage and consistent for all pages.
Whenever you need to make a change to the web page, you can simply edit one header
file and all the files that use that include will be updated.
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- Figure: Have a standard footer across every
page
For an ASP.NET page use this code:
<%@ Register TagPrefix="ssw" TagName="incTop" Src="/ssw/Include/incTop.ascx"
%>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="ssw" TagName="incBottom" Src="/ssw/Include/incBottom.ascx"
%>
Contents will go here ...
<ssw:incbottom id="incBottom" runat="server"></ssw:incbottom> </body>
</html>
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Do you ensure that your contact details easy to find?
It's crucial that contact details are placed exactly where the user expects to find
them - preferably on every page. People will often come to your site just to find
a phone number or an email address, so make sure they're search isn't harder than
it needs to be.
SSW has it's contact details in the left nav bar, which is found on all pages across
the site.
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Figure: SSW's contact details on the web site
Other examples include Dell
and eStore
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Do you use testimonials on your website?
Testimonials are a great way of making people comfortable with dealing with your
company. They give the website a positive vibe and provide users with something
relational that they will identify with (problems solved, needs met, people made
happy, economic crisis avoided, etc)
SSW have a random testimonials box up the top of many pages. One example is the
About Us page.
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Figure: Testimonials as displayed on SSW's About Us page
Another alternative is having the testimonials listed down the right hand side of
the screen. An example of this can be seen at:
http://www.ericjsmith.net/codesmith/.
An interesting spin on the previous link is a website that still has the testimonials
down the right hand side of the page, however it displays exerts of these testimonials
in comic book style speech bubbles. An example of this can be seen at:
http://www.richtextbox.com/richtextbox/
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Do you go for Minimal Design?
Not only do we try to keep our designs clean and simple without too many images,
we also try to minimise the number of words. If something can be revised to make
it cleaner and simpler, we will always do it. A lack of superfluous words means
your readers don't get bored and will stick around longer.
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Does your website have an 'About Us' section?
One of the first things you need to include when building a website is an 'About
Us' section. An 'About Us' section gives the website credibility and more importantly
gives readers an overview of you and your company.
At SSW we based our 'About Us' page on 4 criteria; these are 4 aspects that we feel
potential clients would want to know. Below is an example of the most important
aspects we felt needed to be addressed on the SSW 'About Us' page:
- Target
- Our location - Sydney
- We specialise 'in .NET solutions for ...'
- Products offered: 24 developer utilities for .NET developers
- Credibility
- SSW has been running Microsoft .NET User Group for 10 years
- Chief Architect is the Australian Microsoft Regional Director
- Services Offered
- Technologies we use
- Customised software solutions
- Goals
- To develop customised solutions for each client to meet specific specifications
- Value for money
To see the final result of these standards, see SSW
'About Us'.
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Does your Web Site have your icon inside the address bar?
How are some websites able to place their Images inside the address bar, the Favourite
menu or as an icon on your desktop? Well, IE 5 and above allows for the placement
of an image in the address bar. This is an excellent way to distinguish your
website from others.
Simply add the following within the head tags on your document
<head>
<LINK REL="SHORTCUT ICON" HREF="/ssw/Images/icossw_v2.ico">
</head>
For more information about the shortcut icon, check out msdn.microsoft.com
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Do you have the ability for users to give you free
feedback and report bugs on every page?
How come there are so many pages I see that don't have an email address on the page?
Every page on your site should have an email hyperlink.
Even better make it easy for visitors to report the actual page they are referring
to. A simple mail link will give users an easy way to report bugs or give feedback
(check out the bottom of this page). By putting this code in your footer template,
users will see this link on every page.
<a href="mailto:info@ssw.com.au?subject=FeedBack&body=<%=Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>">
Feedback Please </a>
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Do you do a critique of competitor's websites?
Here are my thoughts on a couple of product sites critiqued against our criteria.
The following are the first 3 things I look on a product site:
- Screenshots
- Testimonials
- Product Box
Total Access Analyzer
The good points about the website:
- They have a user friendly left navigation bar allowing quick access to product specific
information.
- There is heaps of information to be read if you choose to.
- I really like the "Convince Your Boss" section.
- I think the "Quick Tour" is good with heaps of detailed information.
The bad points about the website:
- Seems busy
- Took a while to find the screen shots - should be more obvious.
- A significant amount of reading is required to understand what the product will
do for you.
- No links to product support or knowledge base.
- No screen shots.
SQL Compare
The good points about the website:
- Aesthetically pleasant with a simple easy to read layout.
- Links are provided to more detailed information.
- Access to evaluation copy and help files.
The bad points about the website:
- Screen shots are given but what is the purpose of making them so small I have to
click on every single image.
- When you open up the first page you should see a quick summary of what the product
will do for you. Such as the key features and benefits.
- No description of system requirements.
- No description of how it works.
FTP Sync
The good points about the website:
- Summarises the product benefit well in one short paragraph.
The bad points about the website:
- Screen shot available but not on the first page.
- They have all the changes from previous releases on the main page - would have been
better to have a link - it is assuming that all visitors are existing users who
are very familiar with all the feature which I doubt is the case.
- Aesthetically dull, no pictures or branding incorporated.
- Information is not organized in any logical structure that entices web surfers to
purchase.
- No system specifications outlined.
- Lacks structure. When you open up the first page you should see a quick summary
of what the product will do for you. Such as the key features and benefits.
- When you open up the first page you should see a quick summary of what the product
will do for you. Such as the key features and benefits.
- No description of system requirements.
- Combining it with a whole lot of other products - should have a dedicated page per
product.
Rich Text Box
The good points about the website:
- They have a user friendly tool bar allowing quick access to product specific information.
- Testimonials standout.
- Feature section is good - Where appropriate information has been summarised or put
into a table.
- Compact design all in one screen full with links for more detailed information and
a good menu bar at the top.
- Links are used frequently for access to more detailed information.
- There is a screen shot with a really good online demo.
- A lot of effort has been taken to make this site look aesthetically very pleasing.
The bad points about the website:
- There are buttons in the top header which do nothing. I know now that is the intention
but I think confusion should be avoided.
- A lot of advertising clutter leaving web surfers confused as to where to go next.
SSW Code Auditor
Good points:
- Outlines the problems that the program solves well
- Good feature overview
- Has box shot, giving the product some identity.
- Has links to further information about related technologies (e.g. regular expressions).
- Testimonial is meaningless
Bad points:
- Screenshot doesn't illustrate purpose of application
- Too much content on one page, with no easy way to get to a specific area. Much of
the content doesn't need its own section, and could be condensed to simply enhance
the feel of the site.
- No clear links to product knowledge base until the bottom of the page
- Section about FxCop could be put on a separate page, with a feature comparison table,
which is then linked to with a navigation item. This content won't be of interest
to many surfers. Those who do know FxCop will see the link and click through.
- Report demo should be made clearer. People want to see this.
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Do you organize your product information on your website
appropriately?
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Figure: How to organize your product information.
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The way you present information to prospective clients determines its effectiveness.
In a cluttered environment we skilfully organize information for the greatest impact.
When advertising software we like to use the following standard.
- First Sentence (aka Tag Line)
This is a one line sentence that explains the benefits of using the software. This
description is non-technical, but should give an idea of who the software is for.
E.g. "Automate your code reviews with SSW Code Auditor"
- First Paragraph
A paragraph that describes in greater the detail what the software does, what Microsoft
products it works with (e.g. Access, Outlook, SQL Server etc) and any initial technical
notes. E.g. "SSW SQL Total Compare resolves data conflicts with SQL Server Replication.
This tool reports the differences between the Publisher and Subscribers the data."
- Key Features & Benefits
It's now time to convince the web surfer that they want the product. This section
needs to summarize in bullet points why this product is going to solve their problems.
If necessary group the benefits into logical categories.
- Product Box
Displaying your product box provide user with some tangibility and increasing their
confidence towards the product.
- Testimonials
Place a testimonial from another user who's already using the software. Customer's tesimonial tends
to be informal and the message can be easily understood by your visitors.
- Screen Shots
One screen shot on the first page is important for customers to get the look and feel of the application. Then link to more screenshots.
- A Recorded Demonstration
Customers love demonstrations especially when they are faced with using a product
that they have never used before. An .avi is a great and innovative way to coach
people on how to use products, and work with regardless of where they are around the
world.
- User Guide
This is help facility is designed to quickly get you up and running. Once again
if you can offer it to customers make sure you let them know about it
- How it works
This is a brief technical description of what goes on behind the scenes
- System Requirements
The minimum system specifications to run the application.
- Support
One of the most important attributes that customers of software products look for
when they make a purchase is whether or not there will be support if they are stuck
and having difficulties with the software. One very cost effective method of support
is to provide a knowledge base where customers are free to seek the answers to their
own problems.
- Links
It is helpful to the customer to provide useful links to complimentary products
or websites. Take for example our page on SSW
Code Auditor At the bottom of the page we provide useful links so that
even if the web surfer chooses not to purchase our product, they have access to
some useful information that adds value to their browsing experience and may help
them find a solution to their problem.
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Do you avoid "Under Construction"?
If all you have time to ftp up is a couple of simple html pages with few contact
details and a brief "About Us", then leave it as that. Writing "Under Construction"
says "We have a few ideas, but we really just don't have the resources to get our
website together at the moment." Bad idea.
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Figure: "We just can't get our act together on our website"
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Do you avoid using a Counter?
In the past, Web people thought it would be useful to tell people how many visitors
the site has had. The idea behind it was that each visitor would see a figure and
think "oh, this site must be good, it has had X number of visitors" and elect to
stay with the site. It was basically a gimmick. So counters were born in various
shapes and sizes and more and more sites used them until someone realised it wasn't
actually adding anything useful to the site: the numbers meant nothing to the visitor
especially if they were really high. And if the numbers were low or perceived to
be low, depending on how long the site had been up, then visitors often left before
going any further. Plus the counters were virtually useless for Web site owners.
They didn't provide any useful information other than the fact that there were a
certain amount of visitors. There was no way of knowing how many of these visitors
were "unique" i.e. new to the site.
Behind-the-scenes Web tracking software now makes it possible to get rid of the
counters and most professional sites have. Instead, they use the Web analysis software
which allows them to track their visitors much more comprehensively and use the
statistics to guide their marketing efforts. Here at SSW, we use a program called
Live Stats.
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Do you gather more personal information progressively?
Most people don't like to disclose personal information and in some cases will give
you dud data. This is more often the case when people are required to give a lot
of information at one time. What we have found at SSW is that you will get better
quality personal information at intervals and not all at once.
For example: Lets say I go to a website to download some software, but to do this
the company requires me to give my Name, Address, Phone Numbers & email address.
The likelihood of them receiving my correct details are limited as I don't know
what they will do with these details and I don't know the company at all. However,
if that same company only asked me for my first name, one phone number and email
address only I would be more inclined to leave them the correct information as this
is not as intrusive and a lot quicker. I would also be more inclined to go back
to that website and download more, which is when you ask the user for that little
bit more information.
The second time round that company may ask me for my surname, suburb and 2nd phone
number. Again this is not as daunting because as the user I have already given this
company some of my information and feel that I can trust them a bit more than the
average company.
The third time I go to download they ask me for a little bit more information, so
by the time I have visited their site to download I have effectively given that
company all my personal information.
Of course this does not guarantee that people will cease inputing dud data, it does
decrease the chances though!
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Do you know the right format to show your phone number?
Basically every phone number should have +country code because then when you are in another country you can dial anyone without knowing the special numbers to go international.
Bad: (503) 629-4000
Good: +1 (503) 629-4000
Skype has a cool IE add-on for this. It would be good if the great outlook addin Plaxo could automatically validate this for everyone.