Happy browsing

Everyone loves the Web, right? Everybody wants to find what they need, when they need it. But do you ever get the impression when visiting a company's Web site that they don't love you back? Too often, sites are dull, complex, hard to understand and contain irrelevant information. You want to relate to the site, but it's like trying to hug a brick wall. There is a reason for this. Many companies in South Africa still believe the success of their Web site can be measured by how long someone spends on their site or, even more crudely, the number of 'hits' their Web site gets.

So here's the question... which is the more successful site; the one where someone spends five minutes looking around the site in frustration, unable to find what they want, and goes away unsatisfied? Or the one where someone finds what they want in thirty seconds and leaves, having been impressed? Statistics would say the first. Common sense would say otherwise.

This can be seen with e-commerce Web sites. Often there is talk about 'visitor to sale conversion ratios'. Although not without value, this is a poor way to measure revenue generation. What would a company rather have; five visitors to its Web site of which one buys something online? Or five visitors to its Web site of which no one buys anything online, but then two go and buy something in one of the company's shops instead? Again, statistics would say the first, but that would be a mistake.

The problem is that Web sites are often focused on what the company wants to tell people, rather than what people need. Statistics won't help to realise this. In fact, often they will lie. A company may believe it has the most fantastic Web site in South Africa. Truth is, it might just have one of the worst.

Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For those companies that understand the Web and what it means, they appreciate that the value of a 'hit' on their Web site is more than just a marketing statistic. Every person that visits the site has come there for a reason. The trick is to find out what that reason is, satisfy it, and win an ambassador for the site and the brand. To do this, companies have to start shifting their focus from trying to get their message across to listening instead. Listening to what visitors want to see, and what they want to say.

See every visitor to the site as a potential brand ambassador that needs to be pleased.

Dan Matthews is a technical architect at EPiServer South Africa.

The advantage of the Web today is that with the right platform driving a company's Web site, it can easily find out what its visitors are trying to say. A company can analyse search terms that brought them to the site, it can see the patterns of their visits, what they are looking for, what they rate and what they are commenting about. The company can provide polls, surveys and forums to gather information from them about how they wish to engage with the company. It can provide customised content to target groups, and test out different pages and sections to gauge favourable responses. It can see in real-time who is on the site and reach out to contact them.

All of this means companies need to get a bit more strategic with their Web site. Until now, maybe companies have been allocating a business-as-usual budget and have a site that seems to be ticking over without really doing anything. Maybe they are using an agency that is giving them access to a 'cut price home grown CMS'. They're probably just throwing that money away.

Even more than that, they may be actively damaging their business. A Web site is one of the most vital channels for business, and not just for immediate revenue generation. A Web site is the window to a brand. If companies use a bargain basement platform to present their brand, the chances are that people will interpret the brand as just that.

So, where to from here? Start to see every visitor to the site as a potential brand ambassador that needs to be pleased, not a potential customer that needs to be told the company message. It's all about having a joined-up picture of the business, and the Web site should be part of the whole brand image. Everything a company is and everything it does should be reflected there in an engaging and attractive way.

A visit to a Web site is like a kiss. A company can either kiss its visitor back and make them happy, or it can turn them down and make them feel rejected. There are now world-class engagement platforms available here in South Africa, so I suggest it's time to pucker up.