Site Audits
A surprising majority of Web sites are not meeting their objectives or realising their potential. The main reasons for this are:
- There are no written objectives
- No business case was ever developed for the site
- The site is badly designed
- The pages and contents are badly laid out and contain the wrong information
- The terminology used on the site confuses the visitor
- Making a purchase on the site is just too difficult and time consuming
- The site takes too long to load
- The site is not being kept up to date.
What can be done?
The Networking Edge has assembled a Web Site Audit Package which provides organisations with the information to satisfy themselves that they are getting value for money from their Web site and that it is contributing to the organisation’s objectives and, where appropriate, to profits.
Most organisations have invested significantly to develop their Web site. The Audit Package provides the Chief Executive with an assurance that that investment is not being wasted, or alternatively provides a detailed list of changes which will bring the site up to its true potential.
How Does It Work?
Once you have decided to undergo a site audit, we will provide you with a fixed quote and an assessment of the time it will take. Once we have agreed the terms of business we will get on with it.
Wed need your site business plan or, at least, a chat to determine your hopes for the site. We would also like a copy of the business goals and objectives as we will be assessing how the site does or could support those goals.
All of this information will be treated in strictest confidence.
You won’t hear too much from us until the audit is complete, at which time you will receive a detailed report covering anything up to 40 areas which could be pertinent to your site. Where the site is substantial or there are a considerable number of problems, we may recommend that we make a presentation to you so that we can discuss remedies in depth. This would incur a small additional cost of $250 plus GST.
Some of the 40 Areas we Investigate
Publishing Risks
When information is placed on a Web site it is ‘published’ and all of the legal obligations which apply to advertising in other media also apply to the Web. The audit looks for situations where the organisation might be exposed to risk - defamation, incorrect advertising, time-related offers (specials etc). The report will suggest alternatives where these are encountered.
Navigation
The audit takes a critical view of the ease or otherwise with which a visitor is able to find their way around the site. Two perspectives are taken: Firstly a ‘first time’ visitor who knows nothing about the organisation or their product and who needs to be able to find enough information to easily complete the transaction. Secondly the view of a ‘regular customer’ who knows what they want and where to find it. This customer doesn’t want to have to wade through unnecessary explanation to get to the specific pages they need.
Terminology
This part of the audit looks at the words used on the site. Particular attention is paid to the words used to navigate through the pages. Different people will often use different words for the same things. The audit assesses whether someone is able to easily find what they want and whether the site uses conflicting or confusing terminology. The tone of the wording is also considered against the purpose of the site.
Structure
The structure part of the audit looks at how the entire site is put together. Particularly it examines how quickly a visitor can get to the specific information they require. This later is benchmarked against the ‘three click rule’. Any required information should be retrievable in three mouse clicks. The audit also considers the logical placement of information on the site and how a visitor might logically want to move around. If the site is complex the audit will access the quality of indexing and the ease of difficulty in finding a specific subjec
Ongoing Audit Package
Once your site has been audited and you have addressed the problems we encountered - or should we say grasped - the opportunities we highlighted, it is important that you have a level of ongoing comfort that the site will keep performing for you.
Our maintenance audit package will ensure that your site keeps on achieving the goals you have set.
Some sites are performing so badly that they are being abandoned by their owners
Glitz doesn’t sell product. Customers want to get to the products they want, get the information they need to make a purchasing decision, complete the transaction and get back to work Fancy graphics and cute animations just get in the way!