Myasp-net.com, free asp.net application

Myasp-net News

June 25, 2005
Myasp-net launched the ASP .NET version of World Recipe. This version has a better code structure than its predecessor.

Auguest 26, 2005
Myasp-net launched the ASP .NET version of XD Link Directory on August 25, 2005.

Articles

Best asp.net hosting

For more article, please visit our

Article Directory

Email to a friend Print this article

Print article
Hits: 7187 Rating: rating: (3.1)

(3.1) by 575 user(s)

Rate this article:

Hey! Your Website Suck?
By Estella A. Barcianno

After months of planning, sweating and praying, your E-Commerce site is up and logging hits. Congratulations! You're well on your way to becoming the next dot-com millionaire, or are you? You won't get that beach house or the Porsche if you don't get the hits, and for that, your site must not suck. Call it quirky, but people tend to prefer attractiveness, functionality and reliability when selecting dates, mates and yes, web sites. Remember Barcianno's Rule: "He who sucks, sucks alone".

I've been a webmaster for over five years, which in Internet time and dog years makes me 85 years old and ready for the History Channel. But I know what I'm talking about, so it might behoove you to read further if you think your site isn't cutting it in the real world.

How can I tell if my site sucks?

Your friends won't tell you. They like you too much to be much use as impartial critics. Whatever they really think about your site, they'll keep it to themselves. It's like asking them how they like your new haircut. "You look great...I positively love your new look". Never mind that your neo-Mohawk has your hair pointing in 40 different directions.

Your competitors won't tell you. My grandfather always said "Never complain. Half the people don't care, and the other half are glad it's happening to you." Competitors will be delighted that your site sucks – it means your site is not a threat to them. To tell you the truth, it always makes my day when I visit one of my competitors and see how bad their site really is. "Who designed your site – your poodle?"

Your customers might tell you, but don't count on it. Of course, as webmasters, we would love to get feedback that we could really use.

Dear Webmaster,

I was about to place a $700.00 order, but then I noticed that your site sucks. So, instead, I'm taking my business to the web site across the street. And by the way, your haircut sucks, too.

Sincerely,

David Dumpster Diver Customer from Hell

In reality, though, customers rarely tell you what's wrong...they just go elsewhere. As a webmaster, it's your job to solicit feedback from as many people as possible. Don't just get one or two critiques, try to get dozens. I don't feel comfortable with my site designs until I've received 20 solid critiques from people who know what they're talking about.

One of the ways to solicit feedback is via postings to webmaster newsgroups. It's always best to have peers review your work, because they can provide constructive feedback on much more than just style. This is crucial because of the variability of browsers, monitors and evolving standards for languages such as HTML and Javascript. One of my favorite news groups is alt.www.webmaster.

Sites can suck in many different ways

The beauty trap. People have a tendency to focus on what is immediately visible, while ignoring crucial structural elements. In web sites, this translates into colors, graphics and overall layout. I've seen entire web teams get driven off-task chasing semi-irrelevant style issues such as font colors, paragraph spacing and animated graphics. Meanwhile, their site's shopping cart is broken down on the side of the road and half their customers are experiencing dropped orders. Yes, visual appeal is important, especially in an E-Commerce site. However, visual appeal is not more important than the underlying structure.

I have been the lead developer on many web projects, and I have learned that all web sites share the following elements:

* Style
* Structure
* Content
* Marketing

Most webmasters are aware of these elements, but don't always follow through on them. A typical weakness with many web development firms is the lack of technical/creative diversity. What I mean by this is that you'll see web firms staffed by artsy "creatives" who consistently produce stunning visually appealing sites, but can't program their VCR. On the other end of the spectrum are "geek" firms staffed by well-qualified programmers with no artistic bent whatsoever. A good mix of personalities is crucial for a successful site development project.

Lack of Content

The most common reason that web sites fail to perform as desired is lack of content. On most projects, the designers are fairly far removed from the content of the site which they're creating. Therefore, the content for the site must come from the client. I can't tell you the number of sites I've created where we could not beat content out of our clients. "Just create some stuff for us...you know, reports, graphics, industry articles, stuff like that." Well, excuse me, but I don't know anything about nickel-plated ice-cream scoops nor do I want to fill my mental rolodex with that stuff. Lack of content is the number one killer of web sites.

Loss of Momentum

After hundreds of sites, I have found this phenomenon to be very common. Within each company, there is generally great enthusiasm for creating the company web site. There is usually a "champion" or two, and everybody gets involved on the "fun" part of the creative process. People start to drop off the train when we get to the technical stage, but a few still hang in there. Unfortunately, there's a tendency to believe that the entire project is complete after the site "goes live". I think this is a carryover from the 20th Century paper-based mindset in which a project was complete once it went to the printers. After all, once it was printed, it was too late to change it. However, a web site is never complete. It is a perpetual work-in-progress. Put away the champagne and forget about the awards banquet. The real work on a web site comes after the launch.

Lack of Online Marketing

Finally, we come to marketing. I personally hate this stage because I'm not a marketing guru, but I understand that it is as important to the success of a web site as any other component that I've mentioned. Because of the mythology of the web caused by over-hyped expectations, clients believe that "if they build it, they will come." Absolutely not true. Like anything else in business, quality alone will not sell a product...it has to be properly marketed.

The 30-day whine

This is so universal that I expect it on every web project — the 30-day whine. It goes like this: one bright, sunny afternoon, we receive a telephone call from client Z, whose E-Commerce site we have launched 30 days before:

"Our site's been live for a month now and we haven't received a single order . We had budgeted sales of $450,000 for our first month...blah blah, more assorted whimpers, whines and gnashing of teeth..."

At this point, the web site owner should be well into marketing mode. Now, most of our clients are small businesses, so we don't expect them to execute million-dollar marketing campaigns, but even the smallest business has to do some marketing in order to survive. Web site marketing is an entire industry unto itself, so I won't go into too much detail, but at a minimum, the client should be broadcasting their URL to all of their existing customers, new prospects and even their suppliers. They should plaster the URL all over their letterhead, business cards, brochures, everywhere. In most cases, it is probably wise to hire on a good web marketing firm to get the site listed prominently on search indexes and elsewhere. Web marketing is hard work. It can take quite awhile to start getting hits and orders, so patience is required as well.

Achieving closure

Any E-Commerce site is always a work-in-progress, so you'll never get a sense of project closure. The real reward is when the site starts to log orders and it becomes a viable new channel for your client. Let me tell you, when one of my clients received a $90,000 order over the web, it was a boost for me as well. I got the satisfaction of knowing that we were driving them into the future and contributing in no small way to the growth of the global E-Commerce infrastructure. But most of all, I was just happy that their site didn't suck.

Ms. Barcianno is a contributing feature writer. She is an independent webmaster based in Boston