Spring Cleaning

[Published in The Business Eye, June 2007 - Centre Wellington Chamber of Commerce]

A website is a tool, not a magic bullet. A website needs work. Some organizations clearly do not get this message. They do not realize that having an invisible or inaccessible website may actually hurt them - in some of these cases those businesses would even be better off without a website!

Do you realize that you only have about 15 seconds to grab your visitor's attention? And even less if that visitor is under 25 years old?

So take a look at your website, and see what first impression it makes. Don't just look at your home page, because for some visitors one of the inner pages may be the first page they see. Will it be clear to those visitors what your site is about, and what your organization is about? Is it obvious to people what you expect them to do on your website; is your Contact Us page easy enough to find?

These questions, and more, can help you to start a Spring Cleaning exercise for your website. Reorganize some of the content, add some new images, or redesign the site altogether. Looks are not always that important (obvious and effortless content is often what people look for first), but demolition and rebuilding may not be such a bad idea if your site's foundation is beyond repair.

For more information: contact your webmaster, or email Nardo Kuitert at nardo@u-cwebs.com.

Nardo Kuitert is an Internet Consultant with Fergus Website Development and Optimization firm U-C WEBS (www.u-cwebs.com). U-C WEBS also offers Internet advertising opportunities on www.ferguspages.com.

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