| |
| |
|
Web Design Information |
|
|
|
Eliciting Constructive Website Feedback
"It's good."
At some point, you have probably received comments like this when asking for constructive criticism of your website efforts. Unfortunately, the generic nature of these comments does not give specific information on elements that you need to improve your site. So how do you elicit specific, constructive, targeted feedback from the public in order to improve your website? The seven techniques below, when implemented properly, will give you the constructive feedback you need to make your website the best it can be. 1. Ask both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions, such as "how would you rate the site on a scale of 1 to 10?" will provide quantitative measures which, in aggregate quantities, can be very useful. Open-ended questions provide your users the opportunity to provide specific and detailed answers in their own words, thus providing a more qualitative measure of your website's appeal. I generally find that a 60% closed-ended/40% open-ended mix of questions provides sufficient data from both a qualitative and quantitative standpoint. 2. Give your existing website customers surveys. Your website customers are the people for whom your site is ultimately constructed, and showing that you are interested in their feedback to make your site more useful to them serves as an excellent way to ensure repeat business. 3. Develop a "focus group" whom you can approach for advice on a regular basis. One of the positive aspects of soliciting opinions is that there are many people who are more than happy to provide it on a regular basis. Your group can be comprised of customers, suppliers, friends, neighbours, relatives, or just about anyone you like! 4. Critique another's website when asked to do so. By providing a thorough and constructive evaluation of another person's website, you will establish a relationship with that other person. When asked, said person will usually be quite happy to return the favour. For those of you who may wish to participate in this sort of exchange without the risk of offending someone whom you personally know, you may wish to visit a web design discussion board that offers a Site Review section and participate. The advantage to this method is that you have the option of posting your site for review; reviewing another's site and possibly getting ideas for your own site; or, as most people tend to do, a combination of both. The following websites, among many others, offer a site review forum:
5. Purchase an experienced, professional website analysis. For those of you who aren't sure which questions you'd like answered about your site, or perhaps would like a more concrete plan and direction, you may wish to acquire the services of a website consulting professional. Depending on what you require in terms of feedback and your budget, website consulting professionals can analyze your website for usability; provide a detailed error and "bug" report; review your traffic statistics or raw logs; determine if your website is search-engine ready; and many other services. One such company is My Guru Knows (http://www.myguruknows.com). Among other business advice services, My Guru Knows can provide an analysis of your web presence in such things as Internet sales, database marketing, and interpretation of web site statistics. 6. Give away a redeemable website coupon in exchange for survey information. Coupons are a very effective way to encourage your site's users to provide you with the marketing information you require. It doesn't even have to be an expensive item either: it can be something along the lines of "free ABC Company pen in exchange for answering these five questions". Mind you, the nicer and more valuable the item is, the more survey information you will acquire. 7. Incorporate your survey elements as part of registration or other interactive elements of your site. Add a question or two at each interactive stage, such as "how did you find this ordering process on a scale of 1 to 10?" By breaking up your survey, it doesn't appear as obvious to the user that you are gathering valuable marketing information. However, the downside is that the marketing information gathered will be somewhat fragmented, as some elements of your website will be used more frequently than others. Use of these seven elements, by themselves or in concert, should lead to a substantial increase in both the quantity and quality of your website feedback and allow you to more accurately determine how to go about building your website in the best interest of your customers. About The Author Adam Senour is the owner of ADAM Web Design, a leading web design and development company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Visit http://www.adamwebdesign.ca for more information on ADAM Web Design products and services.
MORE RESOURCES:
Web-Design - Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Making Good Websites that Stand Out Websites, there's literally billions of them out there in cyber-space. How many of them do you go to and just think this is boring, bland, or hard to use? It seems like too many to mention. Transforming A Site From Good To Excellent One of the challenges of moving a web site up from good to excellent is transforming it from just a bunch of web pages and graphics to an interactive experience. Another term for this is community - a place where people can come to communicate with others. Congratulations! You've Gotten Visitors To Your Site! Now, Can They Find What Theyre Looking For? As search engine marketers, we spend an enormous amount of time trying to get targeted traffic to our site. But, once those visitors get to our site, can they find what they're looking for? If not, guess what? We've lost a customer. You Too Can Have Fun With Sepia Images! If you are one of those who wonder how people come up with the cool looking sepia tone prints that you admire so much. If you are doubling up with jealousy over a sepia tone, here, we will give you tips on how you could achieve this sepia tone, too. How To Design Your Web Site With CSS Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allows you to create fast loading pages, increase your search engine rankings, and modify your whole site with one style sheet. So why don't more people use them? This is because they got so used to html design and are afraid or too lazy to upgrade their skills. What Does Your Website Say About Your Business? QUESTION: My business is very small, just me and two employees, and our product really can't be sold online. Do I really need a website? -- Robin C. 12 Essential Web Site Design Tips 1. What's the purpose?The most fundamental thing to do before designing your web site is to define its purpose. Tips on How to Design a Great Site Have you ever walked pass a shop that, for some reason, you just felt that you had to go in? Maybe it was the décor, or the window display, or the pretty girl, or a combination of all those but something in the shop called out to you, "Come in" and you just had to obey.In the online world, won't it be nice to have a site that buyers just had to buy from, despite themselves? Surfers will be drawn to the "Add to Cart" button that squealed, "Click me!" to them. Do You Really Need A Website? Nope. You certainly don't need a website. Flash - To Use Or Not To Use? Out there in the WWW there are thousands sites using flash for their needs. But the majority sites are not in this list. The Monster Garage of eLearning Have you seen Jesse James on the Discovery Channel's Monster Garage? Each week Jesse and his handpicked team create a customized vehicle to dazzle and amaze you. So what does this have to do with eLearning? Read on. Positive Design Attributes for a Successful Website Designing a website is hard job, and requires you to think out a plan of action, and put in a lot of work to make it successful. There are many different kinds of websites on the Internet, but if you look at all the top performers with high traffic, you will notice that they all have similar design characteristics which place them as the best in the world. What Your Website REALLY Says About You And Why It Matters Everything you say and do says something about you. This has never been more true than in a text based environment like the Internet. Do You Own Your Web Site Design? Your web site has been up for a few months and you are making money hand over foot. While surfing sites one evening, you are shocked to find a competitor using your design. Banner Enchancement - Designing Your Banner A well designed web site is great to have, but what if no one ever comes to it? Most web sites either rely on advertising, or have used advertising at some point in their existence, to get people to come to view the site. This means that your going to have to have not only a well designed web site but also well designed banners to attract your visitors. How to Create a Favicon for Your Web Site One of the simplest things you can do to give your site 'identity' and to make it stand out from other sites is to use a favicon (favourite icon). They are the little logos that go next to the website listing in your favourites folder, and pop up in other places, (depending on your browser and operating system). Tapping Into The Visual Stimulus Of Your Web Site Visitors "Oh, my eyes, my eyes! What an eye sore. Quick, click away! Click away!"Suddenly I wake up in a cold sweat. Building An Effective Furniture Sales Web Site Web sites that feature products - especially furniture or other large items - require a careful balance of text and images to convey the value of each product.Let's face it. 404 Error - The Page Cannot be Found A "404 Error" happens when the web server you are on cannot find the page that you requested. This type of error is quite common and is seen all over the place. Website Design: Secrets Of Professional Website Designers Revealed What colors do you have at your website?Can they make a difference in the number of sales that you generate?Can the use of the right colors in your website design actually increase your sales?The answer is yes!So pay attention to thesee website design secrets.When people see certain colors they can change their emotions or they can symbolize things related to the colors.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 |
