Cynosura

What does your website say about you?

This discussion paper seeks to encourage a dialogue about how to get the best from your website. If nothing else, your website is the most prominent way of putting across key messages to a potential audience running in to billions of web users. The problem is that what you put up on the web can also damage your business if you fail to communicate the correct messages.

At Cynosura we decided to experiment with our website. We moved from a Web 1.0 informational site to a simple Word Press based Web 2.0 website complete with a blog, links to other websites whilst utilising LinkedIn. We are still experimenting. But what does a website say about you?

Did you think about what your audience wanted when you designed it? Or was it what you wanted to put up? The design of your website can affect the visitor’s perception of you in many ways. Is the design orderly or cluttered, does it have many layers or is it just two or three layers deep? Is there a site map (does it need one?) or does the visitor struggle to find what they want quickly and easily? Did you go for a traditional three column site with top and bottom bars, or were you minded to go for something completely different. Will a zany approach attract custom or will it frighten off people; did the owner even give it a thought or was it driven by ego. What colours have you used and why? Professionals tend to use purples, greys, browns and silver. Engineers seem to like sky blue and grass green. New media sites are either black backgrounds or vibrant yellows, oranges, reds and greens. Were these chosen intentionally or were they an instinctive choice. Whatever they were, they can affect the perception the visitor has about you and your website. Whilst there are many aspects to the design of the website, the content also matters.

Is your website stuffed with lots of content or is it limited to one or two paragraphs on each page? Is every word in the website designed to get a sale or have you placed content on the site which is informational, educational or instructive? Do you annoy visitors by your blatant selling or do you excite them because you have made it easy for them to accept or reject you?

Have you got a blog? Is it active or one of the millions that started off well but now has just an occasional half hearted attempt to keep it alive? And what does this say about you, your company and the way that you operate? Is you blog designed to entertain, sell, inform or give opinion? How does the content of your blog affect the visitor’s perception of your organisation?

Is your website easy and quick to access or do visitors give up after having to wait for access? Have you added a flash intro to the website and how is this perceived by visitors? It could be that many are irritated to have to wait to get access to information (probably why most sites have a skip intro). Is your website Web 1.0 or Web 2.0 and does it matter? Many small engineering type firms keep to simple informational Web 1.0 style sites. This is possibly because they are not appealing to a large market but need to have a web presence. Have you thought about which is best for your organisation?

These are just a selection of areas that you might wish to comment on this discussion. So what now? Well we would love to get your views.

• What do you want to find in a website?
• Which are your favourite websites and why?
• Which websites annoy you and why?
• What features in a website determine your impression of the site and its owners?
• Don’t restrict yourself to the questions above. If you have a view you would like to express then we would like to hear it.