Creating a Winning Web Site & Online Strategy: Q&A With Aaron Kahlow
While social media tools such as blogs and Twitter are getting
all the buzz these days, we can tend to forget that for many
companies, the web site is still the main inroad for customers.
As a result, web site performance and usability is critical.
Aaron Kahlow is a partner in Business Online and a leader in the
field of web site usability. At the MarketingProfs B2B Forum,
Aaron will show B2B marketers how they can improve their site,
email campaigns, landing pages and the general online customer
experience by applying "The Top 10 Foundational Principals of
Website Usability."
http://marketingprofs.chtah.com/a/tBINZUOAJaJZfB7RFgZAn4wOg9Q/alrt12
All this will be done in a very unique "lab" setting at the B2B
Forum. Aaron explains more about the format, and gives some tips
on how to improve your web site's usability, in this exclusive
interview.
Q. At the Marketing Profs B2B Forum, you are conducting a Lab on
"Improving the Customer Experience of Your Web Site." Is the
'lab' format different from the standard session or panel we see
at most conferences?
A. Completely different. The Usability Lab gives one on one
advice from the subject matter expert on specifically where your
web site is straying from the known best practices of web site
usability. Moreover, it gives you insight into how that is
affecting your customer experience and overall conversion rates.
Q. One of the areas you'll be covering in your lab is seeing your
web site as your customers do. What do you think is the biggest
misconception that companies have about how visitors use and
interact with their websites?
A. I'd say the biggest misconception is that their customers
think like they do. Much like any good relationship, you need to
put yourself in the other persons shoes (i.e. the customer). Most
marketing professionals are way too "close" to their offering,
corporate vernacular and all things related to their industry. So
things like nomenclature and content grouping often fall in line
with their corporate focused thinking not the users.
Q. In general, do companies seem to be paying more attention to
website design now than they did say 3 years ago? Or are they
focusing more in other areas online, such as blogging and social
media?
A. Definitely prioritizing the design and usability of their site
a lot more. Many realize how bad their site really is and are now
budgeting appropriately. The biggest realization is how central
the web site is for all marketing efforts, online or offline in
how there is usually at least one touch point on the site in any
buying cycle.
Social media is being talked about a lot, but like the [just
released] Forrrester research tells us, less than 30% are
actually doing anything. So a lot of conjecture, not much
concrete steps.
Q. There's been a lot of research in recent years into tracking
pattern-usage trends and "eyeball-tracking" with web sites. Where
do you see the science behind website design going in the future?
A. I see their being much more widely adopted standards so web
sites start having similar structures. This will make it easier
for the user so they do not need to re-learn the navigation of a
new site every time they go to one, it will be very similar to
their more familiar sites:
Q. I know you can't give all your secrets away, but what are a
couple of the main areas of site design that are important to
customers, that most companies overlook?
A. Here are the top 3:
1) It's not about design, it's about information architecture.
Place more of your budget on the proper website "blueprint" and
then layer a nice design.
2) Researching things we all ready know to be true. I hear
companies tell me they did a recent study and found that their
users like the search box in the top right corner... well we know
that was the case 5 years ago. Research the elements that are
very specific to your target audience.
3) Remember the search engine optimization and web site usability
go hand and hand and 90% of the time work in line with each other.
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Hear more from Aaron when he leads the Improving the Customer
Experience of Your Web Site at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum,
"Driving Sales: What's New+What Works." See the full program or
register here.
http://marketingprofs.chtah.com/a/tBINZUOAJaJZfB7RFgZAn4wOg9Q/alrt15
http://marketingprofs.chtah.com/a/tBINZUOAJaJZfB7RFgZAn4wOg9Q/alrt16
Published by MarketingProfs.com
MarketingProfs, LLC
Copyright (C) 2008 MarketingProfs LLC All rights reserved.
We protect your privacy. All logos and names are the copyrights
of the respective owners.
MarketingProfs, LLC
Copyright (C) 2008 MarketingProfs LLC All rights reserved.
We protect your privacy. All logos and names are the copyrights
of the respective owners.
Walaupun info di atas gak banyak-banyak amat, cukup membantu lho bagi yang baru aja mempelajari website or Online strategy, like me...
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