press roomFinance Week, 25 February 2000
How to create an effective Web site
MOST people think it's vital for a company to be on the Web. What many don't realise is that a bad Web site can do a company more harm than good.
This advice comes from Uri and Ariella Estrin, a brother and sister team who head Estrin Software, a company specialising in Internet-based e-commerce solutions and integration between Web-based front ends and back office systems.
"It depends on what you want to achieve with your Web site," says Uri. If your company sells tractor parts, your site will be based on product information, but merely duplicating an existing brochure is not acceptable. It could even do more harm than good.
"People who visit your Web site after having seen your brochure expect to find extra information and will be annoyed by mere repetition."
If your company sells on the Net, you must make sure that there's reliable back-up to see orders through to delivery to the customer's doorstep, or the site will be ineffective, Uri advises.
"Many people view designing a Web site as a technical matter that the IT guys can do. Wrong. Just as you won't ask one of your technical boffins to design your company's brochure, you should not let them try their hand at designing your Web site", says Ariella.
"If your company has a marketing department, use it to take care of the Web site design. To avoid having the curse of an ugly Web site, use a graphic designer."
If you want to know what can happen if you don't follow this advice, go to www.websitesthatsuck.com. This highly informative and entertaining Web site has loads of information. It shows you the most terrible sites, discusses what has been done wrong and suggests ways to correct the mistakes.
You can even use this interactive Web site to have your company's site evaluated. The site has a section dealing with the importance of user-friendly navigation -- illustrated with numerous examples.
Using a freelance designer would cost you more or less R5000 and well-known designers could charge you up to R50000. Freelancers can be found at www.pepper.co.za. This site has contact details of designers, copywriters and journalists.
"When briefing your graphic designer, make sure the message conveyed by your site is consistent with your corporate ID. Approach it in the same way you would an ad or publicity campaign. You must also brief your designer on what you want to achieve with your Web site and who your target market is," Ariella says.
She warns against not using a competent copywriter. "Badly written text with spelling and grammar mistakes will create an impression of a sloppy company that cannot be bothered with detail."
Uri stresses the importance of registering your domain, which can be done by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Just make sure it is registered in your name so that you retain ownership. This will ensure a proper name for your Web site instead of some drawn-out address that no one would take the trouble to try to visit.
"When choosing an ISP, ensure it has the necessary infrastructure. World Online is a good option and will cost you about R99 a month," he says.
According to him, it is vital that traffic is directed to your Web site. This can be enhanced through html tags that a search engine can read. Make sure your Web developer does this. In the US, 15% of the Web sites get 95% of the traffic.
A last word of advice from Ariella: "Change the content of your Web site frequently. A site that remains the same for six months will not be to your benefit."
Web site creation steps
- Choose a reliable and reputable Internet Service Provider (ISP);
- Register your domain name. Your ISP can do this for you. Use the ISP that is going to host your site or you will have to pay a transfer fee;
- Develop a brief, ensuring that the purpose of the site is clear. Knowing what you want to achieve and identifying your target audience will make it easier to deliver what they want. Keeping future growth in mind, you can avoid a total redesign in six months' time;
- Choose a Web developer, graphic designer and copywriter: www.webdeveloper.co.za is a good place to start, and www.pepper.co.za if you're looking for freelancers;
- Try to supply all the initial content upfront. Nobody likes surprises halfway through development;
- Ask to see progress on your Web site regularly. It's easier to make changes if they're identified early on;
- Check the text and every link on your Web site before going "live". Also test the download speed from a dial-up account to make sure it's acceptable to users without big bandwidth;
- Register your site with the search engines. Tips on achieving the best results can be found at www.wilsonweb.com;
- Make sure you have policies in place for handling e-mail contact;
- Content updates are essential. If you want visitors to return, give them something to come back for;
- Want to know where your visitors are coming from? For free tracking services, go to www.stats.absol.co.za or liveaudit.co.za
-- Colleen Naudé
Finance Week, 25/02/2000
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