Read part 2 of The Website Challenge

Are websites being designed in a manner that is peer group facing, rather than meeting the specific goals and requirements of a company and its customers?

Phil Page, Managing Director, Compass Contract Hire: “I didn’t study our competitors’ websites when it came to our redesign. But I know they tend to put absolutely everything on line, whereas I want customers to get in touch with us so we can better identify and meet their specific needs. We have started to put special offers on our site though. The design company we used showed us a whole host of sites that looked good, but on reflection that shouldn’t have been the starting point. Maybe I should have gone to them with more of a wish list, but really they needed to be asking the right questions too.”

Felix Bolger, Managing Director, Homelodge Buildings: “I’ve been talking to a variety of agencies about relaunching the website, and found there was a tendency for them to look at the competitors’ sites and to say we needed to be doing the same thing. I think agencies do tend to want to give you an ‘off the shelf’ solution. I wanted my website to be an easy read, and to have a magazine look; I didn’t want to end up with a jumbled mess of words just for the benefit of search engine optimisation. I’m much more interested in working with someone who is really interested in what we want to achieve.”

Richard Sawney, Finance Director, Micheldever Tyre Services: “We did look at what other companies were doing in order to benchmark ourselves, but it’s important that you have to look at your website from the customer’s perspective. We wanted to make sure that you didn’t have to make twenty clicks before the tyre hits the shopping basket. We’ve also linked up to the DVLA to help the process so people can simply add their registration number and be told what tyre they need.”

Rick Munro, Partner, Lamport Bassitt: “Our goals with the website were to have a gateway for the firm, a contact point, a directory. We wanted it to make it clear what our values and philosophies are, and what our client relationships are like – to us that was more important than simply listing the work we do, which is what many law firms do. You have to decide what’s right for your own business. I’ve noticed some firms using video clips of their key people, but the success of that depends on the delivery of the person doing it; if the prospective client doesn’t like the look of that one person, they could be put off using the firm.”

Louise Moir, Head of Marketing, Haskins Garden Centres: “You do have agencies saying ‘this is the new thing, look at what it can do’ rather than thinking about what the client needs. What is important is knowing what your customers want from the website, or they’ll get frustrated and go elsewhere. You’ve got to have good basics before you start looking at all the bells and whistles that are available. We won’t add gimmicks to our website just because everyone else is. You’ve got to focus on what adds value to your customer experience. You have to communicate that clearly to an agency though, or you can’t expect them to simply produce what you want. We do look at our competitors, but also at what other gardening information is out there online. We needed to look beyond other garden centres and to the RHS website for example. If the RHS or the BBC are already providing certain information and facilities, then should we be doing the same thing? Maybe we would look at what other companies are doing in terms of chat rooms and video, but in terms of time and budget, that’s not on the agenda at the moment.”

Ross Breckenridge, Director, B&V Digital: “What can easily happen is that your website might appear to have the right branding visually but it has a different ‘tone of voice’. The website is likely to be the prospective customer’s primary exposure to a company; first impressions count electronically as well, so the branding has to be spot on, not just in terms of imagery but in tone. Here’s a classic mistake. The company’s brand is about responsiveness yet the latest item in its website news section is six months old. It gives the impression that the company isn’t up to speed, and actually doesn’t seem too bothered.”

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Read part 4 of The Website Challenge