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who really reads websites?

Posted by simon ashwin On Thursday 08 May 08

The reality is that we read very little online; we might look at a lot, but that doesn’t mean we’re reading.

There are two reasons for this:

1. Most websites are difficult to read.

2. Most website content is irrelevant for the requirements of those trying to read it.

There a direct correlation between the success of a website and its readability and relevance; if people can’t read your website, they can’t you’re your website. Subsequently, businesses should focus on improving these factors, and can do so with relatively little effort.

Not only will users read your website, but it will leave a very strong impression with them; we all remember and respect websites we like and this will say a lot about you.

Making content readable

We read content on-screen very differently to how we read content off-screen. This is a reflection not only of the very nature of a screen, but our habits and tendencies as users of the web.

We read only that content that looks easily digestible and quickly read; it has to look easy because users have utterly no patience or energy to work for a website. If content looks in any way tiring, it is all over.

We cannot read paragraphs and paragraphs of text as if it were a page from the printer. While this might appear the most straightforward way to layout our content, it is represents arguably the most worst layout approach of all. Even websites such as news websites where...

five ways to go green with your website

Posted by simon ashwin On Saturday 01 Mar 08

Earth Day and other initiatives build awareness of how we can work to save resources, reduce waste, and recycle what is already in use. As you build and develop your company’s website, here are some ideas to ‘Go Green’:

1. Offer email sign-ups as an alternative to traditional mailings. Give Customers an option on how they receive sale notices, coupons and special offers. A registration for email notices that would replace paper snail mail is a winning solution for both the company and the customer.

2. Report Green programs in your industry. No one knows your industry better than you, so who better to report on what is happening in the areas of reduction and recycling initiatives? This reinforces the brand as a thought leader and builds customer loyalty.

3. Partner Up. Many companies now have philanthropic partnerships and Green solutions in place – or building. Feature these on your website. A paper supplier can provide information on the work it does with a tree farm, bringing possible customer donations to the same good works. Matching schemes and other support should be showcased.

4. Give Green Options. Customers are becoming more and more savvy about Earth-friendly products, so highlighting them on your website or even on a microsite can be a smart tactic. Products made with recycled material like recycled paper, or produced in a responsible manner can all be big draws.

5. Link It. Providing links to Green initiatives is a lo-cost and straightforward way to highlight a company’s stance. For...

why travel mash-ups are important

Posted by simon ashwin On Saturday 02 Feb 08

As much as the Online Tracel Agencies (OTAs) may position themselves as a one-stop shops for travel planning and booking, the reality is that no single site can make this claim. With the introduction of over 30+ travel sites over the past 2 years, travel content on the Web has never been more fragmented. Sites that provide travel blogs, itinerary sharing and rating systems abound.

The future of destination content should include a mash-up of multiple sites such as the recent by American Express regarding their travel mash-up of Travel & Leisure, American Express Publishing and Lonely Planet. In my view consumers would flock to mash-up sites that combine multiple reviews from Trip Advisor, IGOUGO and others, organized around a single hotel search.

Obviously copyright issues may be an obstacle, but if the review sites benefit financially through referral income, they may be willing to provide the individual ratings. The same needs to be true for itinerary sharing sites, multiple samples from Realtravel and Gusto! would be beneficial. Mash-ups are here to stay and will continue to play a major role in online travel.

what makes a good website?

Posted by simon ashwin On Thursday 30 Aug 07

I was asked by a contact to offer any ideas I had for a tender he was preparing for his organisation for the full redesign and redevelopment of their website.

It really doesn’t matter what industry the website is in; the fundamentals of a good website are consistent and the best website is one with a focus on best practice; best practice planning, best practice design, best practice content.
My submission below is by no means definitive and it was written in the middle of the day in a real rush. I believe however that it offers useful guidelines to any business or organisation assessing what is and is not important in a website redevelopment; on reflection, it is not appropriate for transactional websites and is more akin to marketing/communication-based websites. I have added several notes throughout to explain my rationales.

Please also bear in mind that this is not a website strategy; how a website is built is very different to how it is used.

Contract: the contract with the web development firm

There are several potential contracts you might consider:

Time and materials
Milestones (monthly, on deliverable, other)
Purchase of CMS, design module etc

My view is that you should try and identify a web development firm that will ultimately enter into a fixed-price contract (shares the risk).

Strategy: the strategy behind the website
There needs to be a strategy behind...

keywords in website copy

Posted by simon ashwin On Sunday 08 Apr 07

Let’s talk about the keywords on your web page, blog, e-newsletter or any other digital communication tool. How do you optimize them? How do you get the best results? Are there any rules, principles, requirements?

There are 3 simple things you need to take care of in regards to your keywords:

- Keyword density;
- Keyword phrase order;
- Keyword prominence.

Keyword density is how your keywords are spread over your communication. The percentage of your keyword density is easy to calculate.

Here is a simple tool to analyze your keyword density: Keyword Density Analyzer

Also, if you work on your content offline, almost all SEO desktop applications have this tool built-in for you to use.

Different search engines have different algorithms but generally 5% to 15% (of keywords / total words) density is good for any search engine.

Go with 8%-10% option to be safe and efficient. If you see some other page ranking higher than yours for the same keyword with most other factors being equal, you can always adjust this by removing/adding keywords in your copy. Check their keyword density and see if you can make it just a bit higher. However, never forget you are writing for real people so make your texts easy read.

Keyword phrase order is important to make sure it matches the possible search query order. Think about how your potential subscriber would search for the topics or ideas covered in your communication. Place words in your keyword phrase in the same order.

Let’s look at an example. Which of these 2...

travel websites: improve online usability

Posted by simon ashwin On Saturday 03 Feb 07

The report examined the websites of 20 of the UK’s online travel agents and airline carriers. Each website studied was evaluated against a set of 20 best practice guidelines and assigned a score of zero to five for each guideline, using a system that was developed by Webcredible specifically for travel websites.

Travel agents achieved just 55% usability and airline carriers only 48%. In an industry in which margins are slim, and self-service could give an operator a distinct business advantage, this could be an expensive failing, suggested the report.

The standard varied enormously, although profitability did not seem linked to usability. Although Opodo, British Airways, and Travelbag scored more than 60% on their ability to offer customer usability functions, Ryan Air and Monarch airlines - at the other end of the scale - achieved around 40%.

Ryan Air was criticised for the lack of transparency of its pricing.

Meanwhile, many of the top internet brands performed very poorly, only scoring about 50% on the usability scale. On average travel agents - led by online specialists such as Opodo and Travelbag - scored 55% and the airline carriers achieved 48%.

Ismail Ismail, director at Webcredible, said that transparency of pricing is important to a company’s success, despite the fact that it has not affected Ryan Air adversely. “Users need clear and accurate pricing displayed all their way through their web site journey. It is not acceptable to add hidden charges at the very end of a transaction process - this is something that a number...

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