Melon Corporate Blog
Bridge The Gap - A 6 Point Checklist for Effective Website Implementation
In the previous edition of our newsletter I explored the issue relating to ”Minding The Gap” - the important task of determining whether there is a misalignment between your organisation’s online strategy and its broader strategy.
I noted that increasingly any organisation’s target market has high expectations of their online experience - an expectation that many organisations are falling short of.
In this article I want to provide you with a practical six point checklist that will assist in reviewing your online strategy and help you to “bridge the gap”.
Whilst every organisation is different and has its own unique requirements - there are some fundamental online elements that all organisations should consider.
1- Website Look & Feel
Is your website's overall look & feel polished and does it accurately convey the quality of your organisation's products and services?
Is the website of a high quality design that matches quality of other marketing material?
Many organisations have high quality brochures and stylish offices but a clunky website - "clunky" was corporate in 1997 - pixel perfect and fresh is corporate in 2008.
Useful Link:
For some inspiration have a look at 35 professional high quality corporate websites here.
2- Website Useability
Is your website easy to navigate? Have someone external to the organisation browse your site whilst you watch over their shoulder, you will quickly notice navigational problems.
Is the website designed from the "users'" perspective?
For example is your menu structure a reflection of internal department structure (eg board, management, product line 2, product 2) or does the structure reflect users' needs (eg how we can help you, why choose us, case studies)
Most corporate marketing labours on too much about what the organisation would like their customers to care about as opposed to what their customers really care about.
It is important to understand the difference between self indulgent narcissist marketing and empathetic marketing - ensure that your website reflects what customers really care about.
Useful Link:
Interview with Usability Guru, Jakob Nielsen
3- Google Friendly
Can Google crawl your website?
Has your website been built with the correct html structure?
Google can only help you index your site if you give it what it wants.
It is very common for design oriented web companies to build websites in a search engine unfriendly manner.
Useful Link:
Google Webmaster Tools: See how Google crawls and indexes your site and learn about specific problems they are having accessing it.
4- Publish a Corporate Blog.
Search engines love blogs
Blogs provide frequently updated and relevant content
Blogs allow stakeholders to get a meaningful sense of your organisation beyond the marketing material.
Useful Link:
A list of Fortune 500 companies that publish blogs (with links to the relevant blogs) - includes Boeing, CISCO, Accenture, Marriott
5- Publish a Monthly Email Newsletter
When last did your customers hear from you?
Research shows that businesses WANT to hear from suppliers and other stakeholders.
Just ensure that your content is high quality is not a glorified hard sell.
Useful Link:
Excellent resource for all email marketing - Email Marketing Reports
6- Utilise Audio and Video
Audio
Audio and video are easy and cost effective to implement.
They can both have very high impact and allow the personality of an organisation to shine through.
Useful Link: Hewlett Packard Video Portal
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