This post originally appeared on the ACS Creative blog. Abridged with the author’s permission.
How different is your business today than it was in 1999? And more specifically, how different is your Web site now than a decade ago? Because online technologies and consumer use of them has grown rapidly in the past several years, if your Web site looks and acts the same as it did even just a few years ago, you might not be supplying what your customers require—or what they desire—to do business with you. It’s a good time to revisit exactly how well you’re catering to your customers online.
Here’s a short list of items today’s customers expect a business Web site to deliver:
- Easy “findability” through search
- Valuable content that presents objective information to help with purchasing decisions
- A direct and clear path for completing specific tasks and actions as quickly and painlessly as possible
- A secure, easy-to-use interface for online purchases
- Interaction with you and others in brand-based and industry communities
- Experiences (e.g., authoritative content, authentic engagement) that build trust
- Compatibility with major browsers (e.g., Chrome, FireFox, IE, Safari)
- Accessibility in all screen resolutions
- Consistent messaging and seamless experience with offline channels
- Easy accessibility to your presence in social networks
- Readable text (e.g., large font size, dark text on light background)
- Professional design that supports and enhances task completion
- Easy-to-find information (e.g., onsite search functionality)
- Familiar, intuitive navigation
- Quickly scannable content (e.g., short paragraphs, bulleted lists)
- Obvious access to a corporate blog and social networks (e.g., large, easy-to-find tabs, links, buttons)
- Fast-loading pages
So how well does your Web site cater to today’s customers? If you’re like most businesses, on close inspection you’ll likely find there’s room for improvement. Keep in mind that if you’re not taking strides to evolve with your customers online—and your competitors are—you won’t retain or grow your market share.
Matt Chamberlin is Director of Strategic Marketing for ACS Creative.
