Emily Gorovsky
Maupin House
We’re in the process of redesigning our company Website, so it seems like a good time to share some strategies and tips we’ve learned throughout the process. Here’s a checklist to get you thinking about what your Website may be lacking and what areas you can improve upon today.
Layout: In addition to a clean, uncluttered site that makes good use of space, the following should be clearly communicated on your Website: your company name/logo, what you do, the goal of your site (sales), a user/customer testimonial, and the features of your site. One suggested layout is to put your goal in the upper left corner, your company name/logo centered and close to the top of the page, the customer quote and what you do below the logo, and features on the left sidebar. Drop-down menus help prevent a content “dump” and long lists while keeping features organized.
Content: What should those “features” be?
E-commerce: If you’re selling something, it should be easy to access the retail portion of your site. Customers should also be able to view their shopping cart and log into their account quickly.
Contact information: This can be a listing or a Web form users can submit that offers a drop-down menu of choices (questions or comments, submit a product review, sign up for e-newsletter, submit a product idea, request a catalog, book an author/trainer, etc.).
About us: Provide a company bio and employee list. People like to read about people! And don’t forget FAQs, shipping/ordering info, return policy, discount schedule, distributors list, and product/book proposal guidelines.
Search capability: A search box and advanced search options will make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for. If possible, try to make both the static and commerce content searchable.
E-newsletter sign-up: This can be where you offer an “ethical bribe,” or something you give customers for providing their contact info to you. A free lesson plan download, podcast, or resource roundup are nice giveaways.
Blog: You can host your blog directly on your Website or just link to it—but get it up there either way!
Press room: Announce awards, new products, author achievements, conferences, events, and specials. You can also post press releases, provide an e-newsletter archive, and list information for media inquiries.
Free stuff: Consider putting all your free downloads on one page in addition to individual product pages. Keep the freebies organized by category or media type (podcasts, videos, PDFs).
Links: Publicize your authors’ personal Websites and other sites you recommend, list associations your company is a member of, and include links to all your social networking sites (blog, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Yelp, LinkedIn, etc.).
Footer: Include your contact info, a site map and, if possible, when your site was last updated.
Other sidebars: Show top sellers, new releases, forthcoming products, specials, or some other automatically generated list.
Flair: Don’t overdo it, but consider one or two snazzy features like a rotating banner, widget, or Flash component.
Language: Use “you” and “your” to speak directly to your customers. Your blog is where you can be more casual and conversational, but there’s no reason why your Website has to be stuffy.
Administration: Make sure you understand who is in charge of what, and get all questions answered before you go live. After the initial redesign and launch of your site, who makes updates and how often? How are you charged by your Web host or designer for site changes? How can you add content, such as new products or events, by yourself? Will you have an FTP site, an administrative site or back end, and a program for editing more static content pages (non-commerce pages) like the “about us” or press room? What kind of sales reports and customer information can be pulled and saved from your commerce site? Is the site completely secure, and is this clear to customers?
Good luck and have fun! Redesigning your Website can improve your business and renew your passion in it!
This is a great roundup of suggestions! I’d add that you should talk with your designer or developer to make sure the site is what you want it to be “under the hood.”
Once you’ve got your website underway, you might like to visit my blog (http://blog.rebeccahaden.com) for ideas on marketing it.
[...] October of 2008, I offered a round-up here of tips and strategies for redesigning your company website since Maupin House was in the process of doing just that. Well, almost a year later, we are finally [...]