A Web Presence is a Terrible Thing to Waste

It’s important for a company not to lose sight of how important their website is, especially since these days, it can serve as the main introduction to their brand presence and value proposition.

A company’s website should evolve and be refreshed as a business grows, refines or alters strategic direction, branding and positioning, makes an acquisition, enters a new market or introduces new products and services.

A website that is little more than a digital version of the company brochure just doesn’t cut it anymore. A makeover or even an entirely new site may be advisable, if not essential. If you decide on a website refresh or a bulldoze to rebuild from the ground up, do your site visitors a favor and bring in a web designer to do it right―particularly if your current site was built by a friend or someone who’s simply “interested in computers.”

These lamentable scenarios often result in some of the most arcanely programmed, navigationally convoluted, frustratingly slow and ineffective websites out there. I know, because our company has had to modify and improve some of them over the years.

To help you on your journey, I recommend a few do’s and don’ts for keeping your website current:

Tone down “bells and whistles.” Animation and Flash are like seasoning—used with relevance and purpose, they enhance the user experience, but when applied excessively for their own sake, they frustrate a user trying to gather information.

Rethink “Skip Intro.” They may set off a “Skip Website” alarm in the visitors’ minds.

Use colors intelligently. Bright colors used to prevail. Now white space, brevity and readability are paramount.

Break up the copy for greater readability. Dynamic headlines and sub-heads should be developed around key messages to communicate them prominently and pique click-throughs.

These are just some elements to consider. Is a website refresh what your company needs to start anew in 2010? We’ll be exploring website trends all month, so check back for more tips and trend insights.

Erin Higgins
Manager, Client Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com