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Successful sites include the basic browser guideposts link text, page titles, and headlines to reassure visitors that where they ended up is where they intended to go.
Links on your site that do something other than lead to another page for example, links that lead to another site or open another window should be annotated to let your site's visitors know what to expect.
If the link downloads a file, make sure it indicates the file type with an icon and file size. If the link creates an email message, use the email address for the link rather than the person's name.
Site Map
A site map is a condensed list of the major sections and subsections of your site on one page. Site maps can be a big help for visitors to medium and large sites, especially those without a site-search function. Site maps also can give your visitors another way to see how your site is organized, and search-engine spiders can quickly index all the pages on your site by following links from your site map.
But beware: Site maps can easily end up neglected and out-of-sync with newer pages added to the site, leaving visitors with out-of-date links and old information.
Contact Us Page
Whether you want to collect sales leads, provide a free quote, or sign up people for a mailing list, start using your site to interact with your customers and potential customers. The "Contact Us" link that you provide can be a key piece of your business strategy.
This link can provide information about who the key players are in your company, where you are located, who is involved in your distribution network, and various "help" options. If structured in a compelling way, it can be a major way of reaching out to your customers for feedback. Interactive feedback forms can be set up as mini applications. They have inputs, logic, and outputs, and the way each component of the "application" is handled can dictate the usefulness of the form for you and your site visitors.
If you do provide such a feature, make sure that you have the resources and a system set up to respond to the email or form-based inquiries that you receive. There is nothing more frustrating for a visitor or potential customer than to visit a site, send in an inquiry through a "Contact Us" feature, and then never receive a response.
FAQs
Use your site to save your customers a phone call, and yourself the time spent answering the same questions over and over again. Set up a feedback loop to put questions you get offline that is, by phone, by mail, or in person and put the answers on your website.
Map
If you have lots of walk-in traffic or are in a hard-to-find location, a map and a picture of your building can quickly address the needs of customers who want to pay you a visit.
Mission Statement
Few visitors come to your site looking for a little light reading, so your mission statement will probably find a limited audience. However, if it can support the task of certain users making a donation to your organization or choosing to do business with you over a competitor, then your mission statement has a place on your website. You can increase the likelihood that your mission statement will be read if it's only three to four sentences.
"Under Construction" Page
The tireless, animated construction worker with the shovel has had his fifteen minutes of Web fame. If you have to post a temporary page for your site, or even just a notice on one page that's not done yet, be sure to include a date by which you plan to launch the site or update the page. That gives visitors an idea of when to return to the site for the information they were seeking, and they just might bookmark your site and come back.
Action Steps
1. If you do provide a contact us page, make sure that you have the resources and a system set up to respond to the email or form-based inquiries that you receive.
2. Set up a feedback loop to put questions you get offline and put the answers on your website.
3. You can increase the likelihood that your mission statement will be read if it's only three to four sentences.
4. If you have to post a temporary page for your site, be sure to include a date by which you plan to launch the site or update the page.
Important Points
- Successful sites include the basic browser guideposts to reassure visitors that where they ended up is where they intended to go.
- Site maps can be a big help for visitors to medium and large sites, especially those without a site-search function.
- There is nothing more frustrating for a visitor or potential customer than to visit a site, send in an inquiry through a "Contact Us" feature, and then never receive a response.
The Most Important Components of Your Website - Part 1
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