Five Critical Questions to Evaluate Your Small Business Web Site

Answering five simple questions and using a few free online resources can help you improve your small business’ web site effectiveness. In the process of providing customer experience reviews to hundreds of web site with entrepreneurs at the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers’ (www.njsbdc.com) E-Business assistance program, several key questions continually emerge and some common solutions have helped drive eyeballs and corresponding sales for small businesses.

1. Can visitors tell what you are selling? If a typical visitor does not figure out why they are on your site, you are asking for trouble.
Answer: Have your friends and associates visit your site to tell you what they think. First impressions count so listen carefully without trying to explain what the goal of your site is. Listen well and you can end up with a busier shopping cart as a result. If three out of ten people do not figure out what you do by looking at your homepage, it is back to the drawing board. If you are selling a product, a product photo should be forefront. If you are selling services, use graphics that represent your work. Consider what key words and short phrases will immediately conjure up the right images for your customers. Select an approach that you feel will appeal immediately to new customers and go with it on your homepage.
Resources: Make sure your site does not have “mystery meat navigation” or unclear objectives and misuse of technology to win nominations as the “daily sucker” on www.websitesthatsuck.com.

2. Is it easy to purchase from your site? If you are selling online, it must be readily apparent and easy for a user to click on the item she wants and head for a quick, easy checkout experience.
Answer: Have the test group you formed to evaluate your site try to complete a transaction and gauge their reactions to the shopping experience. Find a shopping cart that fits your budget and product line.
Resources: For a bare bones approach to usability, visit www.useit.com, which includes white papers detailing the ins and outs of the online shopping experience. Also see “20 Tips to Minimize Shopping Cart Abandonment” at http://ecommerce.internet.com, another great source for e-commerce information and shopping cart reviews.

3. Does your site load fast and perform well for all users? While art is subjective, a well-designed web site will have optimized graphics, readable text, accessible pages and a reliable host.
Answer: With any technical experience, you can test the graphics and pages for load time, analyze accessibility and cross browser functionality using simple online tools.
Resources: Simply typing in your homepage address for the “try it” demo at http://netmechanic.com/toolbox to check for broken links, estimate download time at various speeds and run a spell checker for possible errors. Even the free service will show you exactly which images take the longest time for download and how they can be optimized. To make sure your site is online when you aren’t, set up the free web server monitoring service at http://internetseer.com by joining their “business advisory panel.” The few ads that will come your way are a fair tradeoff for daily server monitoring.

4. Is there marketing support? A “winning” web site should have a memorable “dot-com,” be optimized for search engine success and be the recipient of on and offline advertising support.
Answer: Good marketing means having good products and good online marketing means having a good “.com” domain, with links from strategic partners, a search engine strategy and hybrid outreach that encompasses the best features of your retail store, print catalog or services.
Resources: If you are not sure your domain name is a killer, visit a domain registrar like www.directnic.com that offers multiple alternatives if the first search term is unavailable. If any of the options are better than your current domain, spend the $15 per year to register a new domain—even if it’s a second domain. Make sure your site features key words and a good site description on the page and in meta-tags, then visit www.searchenginewatch.com for links to free registrations like www.google.com, paid inclusions like www.yahoo.com and consideration of “pay for play” options on www.overture.com, www.findwhat.com or www.looksmart.com.

5. Are you listening to customers? You probably realize that listening to your customers is key to your success in meeting their needs. Translate that sensitivity to online visitors, who leave an objective click stream of information critical to your site’s success.
Answer: Check your Web site statistics regularly for trends, problems and opportunities and solicit feedback through interactivity. Although direct sales are one measurable from your site, many retailers find success with coupons and online promotions and see online shoppers converting into store visits or phone orders. Evaluate all the ways your site sells.
Resources: Consider promoting a different phone line on your web site so that when it rings, you know where the call originated. Have a good web log analyzer like www.webtrends.com or www.webalizer.com to review daily traffic to the site, whether they are coming from strategic partners where you have established link or check key search term words and phrases if visitors are coming from search engines. If these search terms suggest you could be providing additional goods or services, consider whether there are new products or services that you can market through the site?

By reviewing these five critical questions, you are helping your business and your web site to succeed. For an objective third-party analysis, complete the Request for Consulting form at http://www.njsbdc.com/consulting and request that Nat Bender review your web site.

Nat T. Bender is the E-Business Services Director for the NJ Small Business Development Centers network (www.njsbdc.com) where he consults with small businesses in integrating information technology into their business plans.