Web site design

[Steve]

Don't Make This Web Site Mistake

Jesse Berst, Editorial Director
ZDNet AnchorDesk 10/8/98


Every business wants to succeed in the new millennium. Not every
business will make it. Worse, some will fail not because they built
a lousy business. But because they built a lousy Web site. 

Don't let it happen to you. 

Businesses around the world are spending billions to create Web
sites that build and maintain customer relationships. A shockingly
high percentage are wasting their money. Consider the recent
research: 

Ecommerce sites are getting it wrong. Zona Research reports 28% of
experienced Internet users have trouble finding the product they
want. And the majority of online consumers had abandoned at least
one online shopping attempt in a 60-day period.

Corporate Web sites are getting it wrong. Web usability guru Jakob
Nielsen gripes that companies "will gladly waste a million dollars
on their fancy design and not spend $4,000 to see if it works." 

Web designers are getting it wrong. Internet consultancy Port80
recently found more than half of Britain's Web design companies have
dead links, broken graphics and faulty email addresses on their own
sites. 

To build a winning Web site you don't have to be an artistic genius
or a technical wizard. You just need to know a few basic principles.
And where to get more information. Today's special edition is
designed to help you succeed, starting with the fundamentals. 

OFFER WHAT PEOPLE WANT. According to a recent Georgia Institute of
Technology survey, Web users go online primarily to: 

Read news. Roughly 90%, according to research firm MarketFacts. A
new report from Media Metrix shows news sites have recently overtaken
search engines as the most popular ports of call for Internet users.

Research. They visit corporate and other sites to learn more about
products, events and so on. 

Spend money. Research firm IDC estimates $400 billion in ecommerce
transactions by 2002. And Cyberdialogue's American Internet User
Survey recently found that online sales of travel, music, clothing,
automobiles and electronics all increased by at least 200% in the
last year. 

KEEP IT SIMPLE AND MAKE IT FAST. Or people will visit your site but
never return. Avoid these Web site pet peeves, identified by the
Georgia Institute of Technology: 

Speed. 62% complain Web sites are too slow.

Poor maintenance. 58% gripe about "linkrot," or broken links.

Counter-intuitive. 47% have trouble finding new information on a
site.

Bad organization. 28% have trouble finding pages they already know
exist. 

Copyright (c) 1998 ZDNet
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