9. Incorporate Customer Communicati

9. Incorporate Customer Communication Systems

Websites are two-way, interactive communication systems. You communicate your company’s marketing message to potential customers and make it easy for them to reciprocate by communicating with you. The better the communication, the more trust increases, and customers feel comfortable to do business with you.

Of course, on your contact page, include full contact information — name, address, phone number, etc. I’m amazed at the number of sites that don’t include any contact information, but still expect people to do business with them. Full contact information builds trust — even if your customers never need to use it.

One key communication tool is the “Contact Us” response form. Such a form includes fields that ask for your visitor’s name, contact information, and his question or comment. When the form is submitted, it sends an immediate e-mail to you as well as an e-mail assuring your customer that you’ll be reading the message and responding soon. And you need to keep your word. Respond to your customers’ e-mail promptly!

The poor man’s response method is a mailto link (such as [e-mail]) that allows the customer to use his own e-mail program to send you an e-mail message. The problem with this approach is that you often don’t get vital contact information from the customer, such as his phone number. With e-mail that comes from a form, you can easily filter it via the subject line into the appropriate folder for immediate viewing. E-mail that comes through a general e-mail address, on the other hand, easily becomes confused with spam and could be overlooked.

However, there are other ways you can make it easy for customers to communicate with you. These include

Instant text chat systems such as LivePerson (www.liveperson.com).

Instant Messaging (IM) systems are in widespread use by your customers. Why not list all your usernames and numbers on your site for quick response to customer questions?

One excellent way to save time for yourself and your customers is to develop a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. It’ll cut down on your customers’ need to contact you.

Excellent customer service is the basis of any successful business — on or off the Internet.

The design decision here is to incorporate multiple ways for your customer to contact you.
10. Create and Test Effective Sales Pages

Every business site — and many organization sites — has a Most Wanted Response (MWR). Your Most Wanted Response is probably one of the chief purposes you listed under Point #1 (above). For many business sites, the purpose is (1) to sell a product, (2) to have the visitor go through an affiliate link to buy a product on another site, or (3) to generate contact information for a future lead or follow-up. For organizations, success may be measured in memberships or subscriptions. Whatever your MWR, you must work to optimize responses.

Good sales pages result in a high ratio of sales to visitors — called the “conversion rate.” A good site might have a conversion rate of 3% to 5%, some higher and many lower. Over the past few years, marketers have developed the art of increasing the conversion rate. This is especially important when you are purchasing Pay Per Click (PPC) ads to drive traffic to your site. Your profit is closely related to (a) the cost of the click and (b) the conversion rate of the “landing page,” that is, the sales page to which you direct interested shoppers.

To scientifically and systematically increase your conversion rate to the maximum, you must carefully track sales percentages for each product your sell. Then make incremental changes to the landing page or the order system and see if the conversion rate rises or falls. Over a period of careful study and change, you’ll maximize your sales. A useful free testing tool is Google Website Optimizer (www.google.com/websiteoptimizer).

Here again are the steps you’ll go through:

Set up an ordering system (ecommerce capability)
Create a landing page
Boost sales on your landing page by testing

What’s the design decision here? To commit yourself to seriously working to increase the response rate.
11. Conduct Usability Trials and Incorporate Changes

We’ve almost finished our survey of 12 Website Design Decisions. But before you quit, you need to test your site thoroughly. All newly constructed websites contain unseen glitches — especially those created by inexperienced developers.

Here’s how to conduct your first few usability trials. Ask to meet with a friend who is an Internet novice. Seat him in front of a computer, stand near him, and direct him to your site. Tell him that you’d like him to talk out loud to you about what he is thinking and the questions that occur to him as he pokes around your site. Explain to him that you won’t be able to answer any questions at this time, but you want to hear them just the same. Now watch and take copious notes. Observe what confuses him. See where he gets hung up. Listen to his questions.

After 10 or 15 minutes of this humbling exercise, you’ll detect plenty of small changes to make. You’ll also learn how effective your navigation system is. If you have built your site with SSIs, as recommend in Point #6 above, navigation system changes will require you to modify only one or two of the boilerplate SSI files. Upload the changes and the whole site will be easier to navigate.

To discover 85% of the usability problems on your site, repeat the usability exercise a total of five times, each time, of course, with a different person who can look at your site through completely new eyes. For more information on website usability, consult Dr. Jakob Nielsen’s UseIt.com site (www.useit.com) and subscribe to his free AlertBox e-zine.

What’s the design decision here? Submit your site to simple usability testing with five subjects. Your site will be much better as a result.
12. Plan to Maintain Your Site for the Long Haul

Building a site for the first time is exciting. Maintaining it for the next two or three years can be extremely frustrating unless you’ve set it up with maintenance in mind. By maintenance I mean:

Changing the content of existing information, such as upcoming events, new industry directions, new personnel, etc. Life isn’t static. Websites shouldn’t be either.
Adding new webpages, such as archiving copies of your newsletters, adding new products and services.
Changing the content of your home page so your site looks active and up-to-date.

I strongly recommend that someone in your own organization learns how to make the everyday website changes that an active organization requires. Community colleges and adult education curricula often offer training in webpage design and HTML. A person in your business can also learn a great deal by studying the books recommended in Point #2 above. Perhaps the most important thing you can do to make maintenance easy is to have your website designer build the site with a Content Management System (CMS) mentioned in Step #2 above.

Yes, you want to have a website designer available to back you up on occasions when the change needed is beyond your person’s abilities. But webpage maintenance is something you definitely want to keep in-house, like word-processing and desktop publishing. Learn how! Otherwise, changes aren’t likely to happen in a timely manner and you may put off requesting changes that should take place immediately.

What’s the design decision? Make sure that you plan for site maintenance rather than let it fall through the cracks.

That’s it — the 12 crucial design decisions. Of course, there’s much more to a website than what I’ve mentioned. But this will get you started in the right direction and get you asking the right questions.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

9. Incorporate Customer Communication SystemsWebsites are two-way, interactive communication systems. You communicate your company’s marketing message to potential customers and make it easy for them to reciprocate by communicating with you. The better the communication, the more trust increases, and customers feel comfortable to do business with you.Of course, on your contact page, include full contact information — name, address, phone number, etc. I’m amazed at the number of sites that don’t include any contact information, but still expect people to do business with them. Full contact information builds trust — even if your customers never need to use it.One key communication tool is the “Contact Us” response form. Such a form includes fields that ask for your visitor’s name, contact information, and his question or comment. When the form is submitted, it sends an immediate e-mail to you as well as an e-mail assuring your customer that you’ll be reading the message and responding soon. And you need to keep your word. Respond to your customers’ e-mail promptly!The poor man's respon metode adalah link mailto (seperti [e-mail]) yang memungkinkan pelanggan untuk menggunakan program e-mail sendiri untuk mengirimkan pesan e-mail. Masalahnya dengan pendekatan ini adalah bahwa Anda sering tidak mendapatkan informasi kontak penting dari customer, seperti nomor telepon. Dengan e-mail yang berasal dari bentuk, Anda dapat dengan mudah filter itu melalui baris subjek ke folder yang sesuai untuk melihat langsung. E-mail yang datang melalui alamat e-mail umum, di sisi lain, dengan mudah menjadi bingung dengan spam dan dapat diabaikan.Namun, ada cara lain Anda dapat membuatnya mudah bagi pelanggan untuk berkomunikasi dengan Anda. Ini termasuk Instan teks chat sistem seperti LivePerson (www.liveperson.com). Instant Messaging (IM) sistem yang luas digunakan oleh pelanggan Anda. Mengapa tidak daftar semua nama pengguna dan nomor pada situs Anda untuk cepat menanggapi pertanyaan pelanggan Anda?Salah satu cara yang bagus untuk menghemat waktu untuk diri sendiri dan pelanggan Anda adalah untuk mengembangkan sebuah halaman pertanyaan yang sering ditanyakan (FAQ). Ini akan mengurangi kebutuhan pelanggan Anda untuk menghubungi Anda.Pelayanan adalah dasar dari setiap bisnis yang sukses-on atau off Internet.Keputusan desain di sini adalah untuk menggabungkan beberapa cara untuk pelanggan Anda untuk menghubungi Anda.10. membuat dan menguji halaman penjualan yang efektifSetiap situs bisnis — dan banyak organisasi situs — memiliki paling ingin respon (MWR). Anda paling ingin respon mungkin adalah salah satu tujuan utama Anda terdaftar di bawah titik #1 (di atas). Untuk banyak bisnis situs, tujuannya adalah (1) untuk menjual produk, (2) untuk memiliki pengunjung pergi melalui link afiliasi untuk membeli produk di situs lain, atau (3) untuk menghasilkan informasi kontak untuk memimpin masa depan atau tindak lanjut. Untuk organisasi, sukses dapat diukur dalam keanggotaan atau langganan. Apa pun MWR Anda, Anda harus bekerja untuk mengoptimalkan tanggapan.Halaman penjualan yang baik menghasilkan tingginya rasio penjualan kepada pengunjung — disebut "tingkat konversi." Situs yang baik mungkin memiliki tingkat konversi sebesar 3% sampai 5%, beberapa lebih tinggi dan lebih rendah banyak. Selama beberapa tahun, pemasar telah mengembangkan seni meningkatkan tingkat konversi. Hal ini sangat penting ketika Anda membeli Pay Per Click (PPC) iklan untuk mengarahkan lalu lintas ke situs Anda. Keuntungan Anda terkait erat dengan () biaya klik dan (b) tingkat konversi "halaman arahan,", halaman penjualan yang Anda langsung tertarik pembeli.Untuk ilmiah dan sistematis meningkatkan tingkat konversi Anda secara maksimal, Anda harus hati-hati melacak penjualan persentase untuk setiap produk Anda Jual. Kemudian melakukan perubahan inkremental halaman arahan atau sistem tatanan dan Lihat jika tingkat konversi naik atau turun. Selama periode studi yang cermat dan perubahan, Anda akan memaksimalkan penjualan Anda. Sebuah sarana pengujian gratis yang berguna adalah Google Website Optimizer (www.google.com/ websiteoptimizer).Here again are the steps you’ll go through: Set up an ordering system (ecommerce capability) Create a landing page Boost sales on your landing page by testingWhat’s the design decision here? To commit yourself to seriously working to increase the response rate.11. Conduct Usability Trials and Incorporate ChangesWe’ve almost finished our survey of 12 Website Design Decisions. But before you quit, you need to test your site thoroughly. All newly constructed websites contain unseen glitches — especially those created by inexperienced developers.Here’s how to conduct your first few usability trials. Ask to meet with a friend who is an Internet novice. Seat him in front of a computer, stand near him, and direct him to your site. Tell him that you’d like him to talk out loud to you about what he is thinking and the questions that occur to him as he pokes around your site. Explain to him that you won’t be able to answer any questions at this time, but you want to hear them just the same. Now watch and take copious notes. Observe what confuses him. See where he gets hung up. Listen to his questions.After 10 or 15 minutes of this humbling exercise, you’ll detect plenty of small changes to make. You’ll also learn how effective your navigation system is. If you have built your site with SSIs, as recommend in Point #6 above, navigation system changes will require you to modify only one or two of the boilerplate SSI files. Upload the changes and the whole site will be easier to navigate.Untuk menemukan 85% dari masalah kegunaan situs Anda, ulangi kegunaan latihan total lima kali, setiap kali, tentu saja, dengan orang yang berbeda yang dapat melihat situs Anda melalui mata benar-benar baru. Untuk informasi lebih lanjut tentang kegunaan situs web, berkonsultasi dengan Dr Jakob Nielsen UseIt.com situs (www.useit.com) dan berlangganan mengandung AlertBox e-zine nya gratis.Apakah keputusan desain di sini? Kirimkan situs Anda ke sederhana kegunaan pengujian dengan lima pokok. Situs Anda akan jauh lebih baik sebagai hasilnya.12. berencana untuk mengelola situs Anda untuk jangka panjangMembangun sebuah situs untuk pertama kalinya menarik. Menjaga itu selama bertahun-tahun berikutnya dua atau tiga dapat sangat frustasi kecuali Anda sudah memasangnya dengan pemeliharaan dalam pikiran. Pemeliharaan saya maksud: Perubahan konten informasi yang ada, seperti acara mendatang, arah industri baru, personil baru, dll. Hidup ini bukan statis. Website seharusnya baik. Menambahkan laman web baru, seperti pengarsipan salinan newsletter Anda, menambahkan produk dan layanan baru. Mengubah isi dari halaman rumah Anda sehingga situs Anda tampak aktif dan up-to-date.Saya sangat merekomendasikan bahwa seseorang dalam organisasi Anda sendiri belajar cara membuat perubahan pada situs sehari-hari yang memerlukan organisasi yang aktif. Community College dan kurikulum pendidikan dewasa sering menawarkan pelatihan dalam desain halaman web dan HTML. Orang dalam bisnis Anda juga dapat belajar banyak dengan mempelajari buku-buku yang direkomendasikan dalam Point 2 di atas. Mungkin hal yang paling penting yang dapat Anda lakukan untuk memudahkan perawatan adalah untuk memiliki desain website Anda membangun situs dengan Content Management System (CMS) disebutkan dalam langkah #2 di atas.Ya, Anda ingin memiliki sebuah situs web desainer tersedia untuk cadangan Anda pada kesempatan ketika perubahan yang diperlukan adalah di luar kemampuan orang Anda. Tapi pemeliharaan halaman web adalah sesuatu yang Anda pasti ingin menjaga rumah, seperti pengolah kata dan desktop publishing. Belajar bagaimana! Jika tidak, perubahan tidak mungkin terjadi pada waktu yang tepat dan Anda dapat menunda meminta perubahan yang harus dilakukan segera.Apakah keputusan desain? Pastikan bahwa Anda rencana untuk pemeliharaan situs daripada membiarkannya jatuh melalui celah-celah.Itu — 12 penting desain keputusan. Tentu saja, ada lebih ke situs web dari apa yang telah saya sebutkan. Tetapi ini akan membantu Anda memulai dalam arah yang benar dan mendapatkan Anda mengajukan pertanyaan yang tepat.