Think like a customer
We're all customers - so why don't we always think like one?
When building a website, it's important to always put yourself in your customers shoes. You need to understand why people are coming to your website and then build your site around those needs. Don't, and you will frustrate potential customers before you've even had a chance to talk to them.
I was buying tyres for my car the other day and thought I would share my online experience. This isn't an analysis using strict usability principles, but aimed at the average user.
My objectives were pretty simple...
1 - Get a price
2 - Find a tyre store with the best price that is close to me
Here is a rundown of 3 sites I visited...
Bob Jane :: Rating 4/10 - www.bobjane.com.au
Positives
- Reasonably simple layout
- They provide a basic map for each outlet
Negatives
- 15 Field contact form for a quote.
- No "Locations" option in main menu.
- To find your closest outlet you need to read through a list of around 30+ outlets for your state.
- No way to find out what what tyre I need for my car.
- No way to find out what brand options I have for the tyre size I need.
All up - the site visually looks ok, but doesn't focus on what's important.
Beaurepaires :: Rating 7/10 - www.beaurepaires.com.au
Positives
- Nice easy to read layout (the quick finder concept is very good).
Tyre search, store locator and online enquiries - exactly what I want.
- Store locator works great too!
Enter a postcode and you get back a short list of the closest stores.
- Online enquiry form is pretty straight forward and only asks for essential information.e.g. they don't need my fax number...
Negatives
- The quick finder concept execution is let down by model selection.
If you are going to let people type anything, be ready to pick up the pieces. My car (Holden Vectra) returned 9 results, even though there is in actual fact only 1 tyre option. They don't take in to account model year. Put in the actual tyre specs (if you know them) and it works a treat.
- Store locations returned don't give you even a basic map.
GoodYear :: Rating 6/10 - www.goodyear.com.au
Positives
- Good location finder
- Good tyre finder by model
- Contact form remembers my vehicle type from search
(only thing lacking is that it should remember my tyre size)
- Contact form doesn't ask me to confirm my email address or other unnecessary stuff.
Negatives
- The essential elements I need are cluttered on the side
- Layout of contact form could be better
Now you may think, all this doesn't matter because you will just go with the cheapest anyway - crappy website or not. That's true to some extent, more so when you are comparing apples with apples but there are some benefits in making a good first impression on the web.
A well designed and thought through website will help ...
- your business come across as being professional
- show a great understanding of customers needs
- prevent your customer from being frustrated by you business
- save you money on handling basic calls
- allow customers to get what they want when they want it
Just a few thoughts...
David
Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007
How to structure your web content
You don't read web pages, you scan. Eye tracking tests have identified how people view web pages and where their attention is concentrated.
In a nutshell here are the basics...
- Visitors generally won't read your text word for word.
Reading word for word is rare, especially if your visitor is doing their initial research to compile a shortlist. Yes, some people will read everything, but most won't.
- The first two paragraphs need to state the most important information.
There's a good chance that users will actually read this, though they'll probably read more of the first paragraph than the second.
- Begin subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information carrying wordsThis will help them to be noticed when uesrs are scanning down the left side of your content. They'll read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words.
Here is what is looks like - the red spots are areas of highest focus, yellow less and blue least.
Something to think about?
David
Posted on Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Gallins Guitars
Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, The Edge, John Fogerty, Ace Frehley, Dave Gilmour, Stone Gossard, Dave Grohl, Jimi Hendrix (yep even Jimi), B.B King, Slash, Lenny Kravitz, Bob Marley, Johnny Marr, Paul McCartney, Tom Morello, Angus Young, Jimmy Page.....have all used and recorded on Gibson guitars, the list goes on and on and on.....
Which says a lot about the quality and longevity of the instrument, in turn helping you understand why a company would do well to specialise in the Gibson/Epiphone brand.
We'd like to welcome Gallins Guitars as our newest client. Operating in Melbourne for over 15 years (Brunswick St, Fitzroy and Chapel St, Prahran) Gallins deal with everything to do with Gibson and Epiphone guitars. They look after guitars, amps, all accessories and onsite repairs.
We're happy to be working with Leah Gallin on revamping the website and getting an online store going for them. We'll also be adding some new functionality to their site....incorporating Google Maps, subscription options and a new guitar browser.
More as it comes to hand....
Cheers
Mark
Posted on Monday, February 12, 2007
Sending email newsletters - made easy.
Increasingly, our clients are switching on to the time and cost advantages of keeping in touch with clients via email newsletters.
The cost and time to send out an email newsletter or update when compared to traditional post makes it a no brainer.
To help keep our clients in control of the process, we've introduced an online tool that allows them to create, send and manage emails campaigns online. There's no special coding knowledge required and the emails look spectacular as rich HTML (like a web page) or for recipients that can't handle the fancy version, they receive a link to an online version.
The best thing is that it handles all the subscribe and unsubscribe options automatically, so you can focus on what you do best.
If you'd like to see an example newsletter just click here.
Drop us a line or give us a call (1300 EFRONT) if you'd like to find out more.
All the best,
David
Posted on Thursday, February 08, 2007
Welcome AB Natoli
A very quick post to welcome AB Natoli.
Not just family lawyers, but lawyers to families.
Family lawyers based in Kew and Dandenong, we've started off with a placeholder page and email setup for their domain.
More soon...
Posted on Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Take payments online
Many small business customers don't have the need for full service online payment options, particularly after taking into account the costs that banks charge.
Here are a couple of low cost, low risk options that can help you receive payments or sell online that won't cost you an arm and a leg.
One option is to have a secure online form that collects all the order and credit card information which is then processed by the business in house using existing merchant card facilities.
Don't have or need merchant facilities but would like to still receive the odd credit card payment online? You can always integrate Pay Pal into your online store or website. You pay a small commission on each sale and the customer doesn't even have to be registered with Pay Pal to make their payment.
We've recently added this option for our clients - good for our clients and good for us.
All the best,
David
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007
Garden of Unearthly Delights
The Garden of Unearthly Delights' tag line is "The greatest show on earth - compulsory fun where cheek and freak meet chic". It's a carnie cavalcade of shining stars and odd-ball characters held in Rundle Park Adelaide from 1st - 31st March 2007.
We've just finished setting up an automated media release generator that BuxtonWalker Publicity will use to promote this years event.
This solution allows BuxtonWalker to enter in performance outlines, schedules, location, promo images and pricing information for artists automatically and have them available for download online.
Should be a good show. If you're in Adelaide, check it out Garden of Unearthly Delights
David
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007
1300 Number Fact Sheet
A lot visitors come to our website from Google after searching for 1300 phone number information.
An increasing amount of our time is spent talking to people on the phone about the process and answering questions. It can be an expensive exercise if you don't do it right. Although we don't sell or lease 1300 numbers we're always happy to help others benefit from our experience.
We've developed a quick fact sheet that we can email out or allow visitors to download. We hope it helps them save time and we're pretty sure it will help them save some money.
If you're interested, you can download it here.
All the best,
David
Posted on Thursday, February 01, 2007