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Hi Chris (and others),
I came across this piece recently and decided to write it up for a
presentation I'm doing to the Board of Directors at the Senior Women's
Victoria Hall Residence tomorrow, thought it might be useful for the IPs -
as well as ourselves at CCN :)
This piece was focused towards 'business,' but I think it also has
relevance to organizations and groups.
Cheers,
Leo
-------
Make Yours a Site to Behold
Most everyone with a Web site wants it to be a "sticky" site - that
is, one where visitors stick around to see what you have to offer. Web
designers David Curry and J.R. Tatum offer these suggestions:
*Personalize your site. The fanciest designs won't work if they
don't represent your organization's personality. Bring the nature and
mission of your business (or activities) into your site's design, content
and function.
*Make it easy. Keep it easy on the eye, easy to read and easy to
navigate. Look at other sites on the Web, ask customers (clients or
members) what sites they like, or consult with a Web designer to help you
plan the best design.
*Avoid complicated graphics. Animated graphics, sound bites and
other "extras" may frustrate rather than impress your visitors, says Tatum.
Anything that slows download time may compel people to move off your site.
*Provide something interactive. Whether it's subscribing to an
e-mail newsletter, filling out a form to ask for more information or simply
clicking an icon to e-mail your organization, something that gives visitors
a way to interact with the site encourages them to stay and come back.
*Offer something new. Anyone can find your site once. But for a
site to be an ongoing attraction (or be recommended to someone else), it
should offer further information on events, news, profiles, and links to
other interesting community or related organization sites. Update your site
on a quarterly, monthly or even weekly basis so that your website visitors
keep it bookmarked for future reference.
*Don't rely on search engines. The right keywords help, but with
millions of sites out there, says Curry, there's no way to ensure that your
site will come up in the first 10, or the first 100 listings. Instead,
arrange "reciprocal links" with related organizations and services, in
which they place a link to you on their sites and vice versa. In this way,
you'll be easier to find for people already interested in your services.
*Promote it well. Place your Web address on business cards,
advertisements, promotional items and mailings. When one client put his
address on mouse pads given away at a trade show, says Curry, "a couple of
thousand people came to the site that weekend."
*Track it relentlessly. The most important thing, say Curry and
Tatum, is to track your site's effectiveness. Ask new customers where they
heard about you; ask old customers if they've seen the site and what they
think about it. Regularly check your site "traffic reports" that indicate
how many are coming to your site, where they're coming from, how long they
stay, and what they see and do at the site during their visits. This
information helps you tailor the site accordingly.
(From "Home Sweet Home Page," by Tricia Bisoux, in Decor Magazine,
January 2000, pp49-54.)
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