If you are in charge of the content on your web site, it may seem like what passes as a "good” web site seems to be a perpetually moving target. I recall a few years ago when we built an award-winning web site for a client. They were really proud of their award, but it did not take long for the site to look dated. I remember sitting down with our client and suggesting some changes to update the site. They declined. They loved their web site just as it was. Years began to pass after the award and they were still content to leave the web site alone. One day I was in a meeting with one of their newest employees. When he learned that the web site had won a national award, he could not hold back his surprise. "Our site won what?” He could not believe what he was hearing because it was now three years past the award and it might as well have been 30 years.

Just how is your web site judged by those browsing it? A better question might be this: how do your customers and potential customers judge your site? Let’s take a look at a list of criteria to use in evaluating if your web site passes muster or needs to be overhauled.

Beyond good looks

The truth is, everyone expects a web site to be more than utilitarian. It has to have a design that is eye catching and up-to-date. In web design, this vacillates between flashy lots-o-graphics and minimalist design, especially when you are talking about traditional business web sites. (For example compare these web sites: Starbucks, Apple Computers, McDonalds, Blackberry.) But good looks are not all that matter. Your web site has to be easy to use. Design really matters. So does functionality. The marriage of function and design is one of the six senses that Daniel Pink describes as being critical for business in the Conceptual Age.* In other words, you have to have a good looking web site, but it also has to be easy to use. Good looks and bad functionality is just as bad as ugly and easy. Both will get your web site labeled as outdated. What is outdated will be overlooked.

Does it function beyond being an online brochure?

A web site should be a marketing tool. One of the problems with a template site is they do little more than convey information that you would normally put on a company brochure. This information may be good to have on your web site, but a modern business site should engage the customer at a greater level than just boilerplate information. This includes the use of online tools, merchandising and advertising of specials. It also includes content marketing information. Things like case studies or expert blog posts that change frequently will engage your customer beyond your About Us page. Giving the customer a reason to come back to you time and again is extremely important in keeping them engaged. The more you can put your web site in front of the customer, the more they will become aware of your brand. Likewise, communication channels are very important on web sites today. Is there a way for your customer to communicate with you? This may go beyond the customary contact email form. Do you give them a place to go if they have a problem with your products and services? Is there a place where they can interact with you, leave their opinion, and actually make you aware of their feelings? This is where the social media function of posting comments crosses over to your web site. This needs to be thought through with a plan on how to tackle the two extremes: when someone heaps praise on you and when they express disappointment. Happy customers make good marketing targets. So do unhappy customers. How so? Happy customers make testimonials that can be used to convince other customers to use your products or services. Unhappy customers reveal your shortcomings, places that you need to fix and then market the fact that you have made the fix. (Take a look at how Dominoes Pizza used this very tactic to fix and relaunch their brand.)

Is anyone finding you?

You will never know for sure if anyone is looking at your site unless you are measuring the traffic on the site. This is very easy to do. There are several analytics software available for websites and, most of the time, these are free services. If you are measuring your site and you find that there is not much traffic, what can you do? You can do a SEO analysis of the site. You can still buy your way to the top of search engines with pay per click strategies. However, there are some less expensive ways to go about driving people to your site. First, are you promoting your site as an action step on your other advertising mediums? For instance, if you are advertising in a print format, do you include the phrase "to find out more about (insert the name of your product), go to (insert the name of your website)?” Good advertising never tells all of the details so that the customer has to take a next step to get more info. Make your website that next step. Secondly, are you using searchable text that includes key phrases that describes what you do in your business? Search engines will find and catalog these phrases. Thirdly, does the content of your website change? As we have already stated, some sort of content that changes regularly is helpful in engaging your audience beyond one visit to your site. But content change also helps with your search engine rankings. This sort of organic optimization will help people to search and find you.

Kick the tires

It is a good idea to give your website a good look every year. See what the current trends look like. Websites are in perpetual change. Make sure yours is keeping up with the latest innovations and, more importantly, expectations of your customers.

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*A Whole New Mind: Why Right-brainers Will Rule the Future, by Daniel H. Pink, 2005 The Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Group, Inc. New York, NY. P. 65