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Making First Impressions
Best Impressions
Potential customers will judge your company by its Web site
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Business New Haven
3/31/2003
By: BNH
Mimi Houston
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Any time I'm interested in a company," says Ted Maynard, Web designer and teacher at the Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) Media Arts Center on Audubon Street, "the first thing I look for is their Web site."
Maynard echoes the experience of many in asserting that, if potential; customers can't find your business on the Web, they probably won't find you at all.
"A business today absolutely has to have a Web site," Maynard says. "A company isn't taken seriously unless they have a substantial Web presence. It would be like not having a business card in the earlier days. The Web sites I do have a direct economic impact on the amount of business they generate for a client."
That said, its no surprise that not only must a company have a presence on the Web, it needs to have a polished look to it as well. Having a brother-in-law who knows a little about computers and offers to get your site up and running, typically just won't cut it.
"People will sometimes make up their minds on the quality of a company based on their first impression of your Web site," Maynard cautions.
"It doesn't really cost that much to get a professionally designed Web site," he explains, "and really, you get what you pay for. When you think about the money you spend on advertising - the cost to maintain your site, which is up and running 365 days a year, seven days a week, 24 hours a day with full color, sound, video - there's just no parallel to it. And you're looking at spending an amount that's probably less than what your phone bill is for the year."
Maynard says this is particularly important if you are selling your wares over the information superhighway.
"People have to trust in your web site," he says. "I spend quite a bit of time on the site before I have that trust. Before they type in that credit card number, people have to feel comfortable in the business they're giving that information to."
What are some of the things business owners can do to help make their Web sites an actively contributing part of their livelihoods? When it comes down to creating and maintaining a site, there is a checklist of dos and don'ts that anyone, regardless of the type of business they operate, can adopt.
"I always stress that although there are a lot of people out there trying to design Web sites, very few of them are artists," says Maynard. "When they are, it's a great combination, because they can understand the technical aspects of it, plus they have the artistic know-how.
"There are so many sites out there that are just too confusing, very poorly designed and just have too much information," he adds. "There are really strict rules as to how much information to put on a page and how many graphics to use."
Maynard refers to those sites so overloaded with music and animation, they become annoying rather than achieve their initial intent of being entertaining.
"I always hit the 'Skip Intro' button," laughs Maynard, when he comes across a site with too much going on. "Sometimes the animation and music get in the way of the information you're trying to find."
Does that mean you shouldn't take advantage of them when planning your own site?
"Like anything," Maynard states, "things can be overused. They can make a site look nice, but you have to have that find balance to create a Web site that is more serviceable. It's the content of the Web site that's as important - who the contact is, any information about your business that people need to know - all the things you would put in your catalogue or brochure."
In essence, of course, your Web site is your catalogue or brochure. The only difference is, as Maynard puts it - it's even better.
"A brochure has to be mailed, it has to be printed - at an exorbitant cost - and it can't be updated in real time," he says.
But just as you would go to extremes to get the best color glossy brochure money can buy, you also need to invest the same amount of care in designing your Web site.
"If you can understand the correct way to use them, some animation and a splash of music can be great. But if they interfere with the content of information - and you know, sometimes it can be that the content is there, it's just hard to find - then it's not an ergonomically good site."
Maynard sees a trend now in designing Web sites for faster connection technologies such as DSL and cable modems. He says this is a fine idea, but that some people out there are making a grave mistake.
"I would never design a Web site for that venue only," he advises. "It will exclude a large number of people who are not using cable or DSL yet. We seem to be moving toward them relatively fast, but a Web site should always be designed for the lowest common denominator.
"There are ways to design for slower modems and still take advantage of the people who are using faster modems," he explains. "One version of your site will be applicable for slower modems, while those with faster modems will get a higher version with better resolution. And there are ways of creating content so that it can be automatically detected what kind of modem is being used."
Once you have your well-designed site, Maynard cautions against over-reliance on search engines to get your presence known.
"Any time anyone uses a search engine to find anything," he says, "they're likely to come up with hundreds of matches. If your company falls after the first 20 [matches], the chances of them seeing it is very minimal. Businesses really need to actively get their Web site out there - list it in the phone book, put in on your business card and any printed matter - even display it in your store front window. People should always hear it on any radio or television commercials.
Finally, Maynard stresses the importance of putting a contact person on your site.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be the owner or president of the company," he advises. But people do like to have contact through e-mail. Even people who don't necessarily like to talk on the phone are very happy to send e-mails, so it's a very important communication tool for your company.
"In this day and age," he says, "for any business to survive the intense competition of this decade, they need a Web site. Just as they need a telephone."
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