Evaluating your Website - FDL ACU presentation by BrownBoots Interactive

"Social Media: Is It Worth It?" ACU panel

Evaluating Your Website

Presented by:

Alan Hathaway, President/Owner

Jenny Knuth, Creative Director

David Williams, Account Executive


Current state of “the web”

– Engage customers

– Focus on goals

– Integrate


“I like...” -vs-

“I know...”

Top 6 ways to evaluate your website...

– Content

– Accessibility

– Usability

– Design

– Reliability

– Performance


Contentis king!

Evaluating Your Website: CONTENT


To keep your website relevant, review content regularly.

– Remove outdated/obsolete information.

– Add new content as it becomes available.

– Prune existing content.

– Use headers, charts and other visual aids.

– Split content into multiple pages when practical.


When creating new content…

– Write for your audience(s).

– Prioritize most-accessed, most-needed content.

– Make regular updates as incentive for return visits.

– Don”t forget too proofread!



Content creation tools:– ‘Skim (don’t read) these tips for writing for the web’

www.brownboots.com/blog

– The Yahoo! Style Guide

– Google AdWords

http://www.brownboots.com/blog

http://www.brownboots.com/blog


Managing content resources:– Content management system (CMS)

– Blogging = WordPress

AccessibilityContent ... check! Now make sure your audience can access it.

Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY


Account for users of all abilities and disabilities.


Tips for making a website more accessible for disabled users:

– Add alt tags and captions to images.

– Make sure text isn’t too small.

– Provide transcripts of audio files.

– Keep questions/criteria close to form input fields.

– Allow users to turn off time limits.

– Display “contact us” info on every page.


Account for wide variety of hardware and software.

– Avoid programs that are incompatible with popular platforms (e.g., Flash).

– If a universally compatible format is out there, use it (e.g., YouTube).

– In general, make content as easy to access as possible (e.g., body copy vs. PDF).


Account for wide variety of devices out there, especially mobile.

– Smart phones already outsell PCs; 53% of American cell phone users have smart phones.


Accessibility + Mobile

– Evaluate your mobile needs:• Check site traffic/analytics.• Put yourself in a mobile user’s shoes.

– Implement a mobile strategy:• Prioritize what people want/need on the go.• Streamline content (microsite vs. responsive design).


What about tablets?

Accessibility resources:

– Human accessibility:W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools

– Device accessibility:www.gomez.com www.mobilexweb.com


http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools

http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools

http://www.gomez.com

http://www.gomez.com

http://www.mobilexweb.com

http://www.mobilexweb.com

UsabilityMaking sure it works well and that the average person can use it.

Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

20Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

Components of usability:

Predictable structure

Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY


Expected behaviors /responses to user actions



Familiar & appropriatelanguage


Consistent appearance



How do you do this...?

Sitemap



Wireframes

Wireframe Tools:

• OmniGraffle

•http://iphonemockup.lkmc.ch/

http://iphonemockup.lkmc.ch

http://iphonemockup.lkmc.ch



User testing


+ your competitors are only 1 click away!

Why care...?


Usability resources

www.clicktale.com

www.uxbooth.com

www.usabilityfirst.com

www.useit.com

http://www.clicktale.com

http://www.clicktale.com

http://www.usability

http://www.usability

http://www.useit.com


Design“Little things make big things happen.”

Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

30

Objective criteria:

Design that supports brand styles and guidelines


Objective criteria:

Strong design aesthetics


Objective criteria:

Connect the dots• Take wireframes to the next level

• Use moodboards as necessary


Objective criteria:

Smart integration of trends


Top trends:

Mega dropdowns


Top trends:

Mega footers


Top trends:

Infographics!


Top trends:

Illustrative websites


Top trends:

BIG background images


Design resources

Above the Fold - http://iampaddy.com/lifebelow600/

www.smashingmagazine.com

Creattica - www.faveup.com


http://www.uxbooth.com

http://www.uxbooth.com



http://www.faveup.com

http://www.faveup.com

Reliability

Evaluating Your Website: RELIABILITY

Speed - DesktopPercent below 256 kbps: 4.4 percent in Washington DC

1995 - 14kb

2012 - 980kb

http://tools.pingdom.com




Speed - Mobile

Dial it back a decade. The smaller the better for mobile landing pages.

How fast is your phone?

http://www.mobilespeedtest.com




Uptime

At some point your website will go down!

90% 36.5 days95% 18.25 days99% 3.65 days99.8% 17.52 hours

http://www.monitis.com




Performance

Evaluating Your Website: PERFORMANCE

Goals!


#1 Goal - Lead Generation

Starts and ends with SEO

Keyword selection (Google Keyword Tool)Keyword usage (blog!)Inbound links


BringingOrder to

the Chaos



- or -

Any questions?Thanks for listening!


Business

Evaluating your Website - FDL ACU presentation by BrownBoots Interactive