Is your website delivering business benefits?

Website Review Form (pdf)

Just uploaded a Website Review Form to the Resources page.  The form has a few questions to help you focus on what, if anything, you need to change about your website.

It’s too easy to get sidetracked on whether you like the design when what is really important is whether the website is doing it’s job.

So let me get sidetracked on this design bit for a moment.  Years ago I started a flying school with my cousin Alexander Skeaping and one of our early pupils, Jasper Partington,  was a graphic designer who offered to do our branding for us.  One of our key criteria was that the company logo needed to be recognisable on the tail of an aircraft wherever it was on the airfield.

The day arrived for the unveiling of the logo.  We were not impressed.  We didn’t like the colour, you couldn’t read the name of the flying school in the logo etc.  Well Jasper was a formidable character and he read us the riot act and I have never forgotten it.  It doesn’t matter at all whether you like the design or not, totally irrelevant! The only question is, does it do the job. Does the logo reflect the character of the business? Yes – the purple/pink circle is the symbol for an airfield on a flying map.  Can the logo be used on letter heads, online and on the airplanes? Yes.  Is the logo instantly recognisable from a distance? Yes.  Humbled, we accepted his designs and used them for the life of AirBase on planes, cups, teeshirts with great affection.

Shoreham Airport - Home of Airbase for over 10 years.

The Logo (ignore the grey bits - couldn't find a clean version)

Logo clearly visible on the tail

So getting back to the form. It’s a checklist of items that I use when reviewing an existing website to see what needs to be changed or updated, apart from design!

Purpose – Why was the website setup in the first place and have the reasons changed? A site might be to sell a product online, to provide an online glossary brochure whose purpose it to get people to pick up the phone and call the company. Or it might be one page that says – this is who we are, this is how to contact us. The clearer you can be about what your website does for your business, the easier it is to make it a success.

Measuring Success – How do you know if the website is delivering benefits? Do you know what additional sales you have had as a result of your website? Are people referring others to your website? There are tools out there to help, again be clear about what success is for you.

Future – How will you know when it is time to update or refresh your website? Keep an eye on your competitors websites. Ask friends or colleagues to give an honest opinion on the look and feel. If the site was done more than 4 years ago, you probably need to refresh it, but that does not necessarily mean a rewrite.

Then the form asks a couple of questions on each of the following practicle aspects of the site:

• Content – Appropriate, updated etc.
• Usability – Can users find their way around your site – you are not a good judge of this!
• Findability – Can the people you want to find your site, find it?
• Updateability – Is there someone tasked with updating the site and do they have the skill and access to do so.

Any comments or questions welcome – and before you go there, the cobblers children go shoeless, my own site is not the best example!