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William Atkins
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Website Critique and Recommendations for improvement http://www.gatesnfences.com/ The company describes its goal as.

2 Website Critique and Recommendations for improvement The company describes its goal as... "Designed to Enhance the Entry of your home with Custom Ornamental Decorative Driveway Gates while bringing Safety, Security and convenience." The business provides, "Top Brands of Gate Openers and Operators, Commercial, Residential, Industrial, Swing, Slide, Rack & Pinion, Barrier" Major Issues As can be seen from the above image and the actual website, there are several issues in the gatesnfences.com website. Primary concern affect content, design, organization, layout, and business purpose. Major concerns are explained below along with possible alternatives that the company can consider to make its website more effective. 1

Five ways the website can be improved By identifying and addressing concerns given below, the changes will not only result in visitors being able to find information easily, but the re-designed

3 Five ways the website can be improved By identifying and addressing concerns given below, the changes will not only result in visitors being able to find information easily, but the re-designed website will also rank higher in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and as a result rank higher in search engines which will drive more visitors to the website. 1. BETTER ORGANIZATION (B2B AND B2C SECTIONS) The navigational hierarchy of a website determines how easy it is to find information. The gatesnfences.com website appears to cater to two segments: Business to Consumer (B2C); and Business to Business (B2B). Both these segments are currently lumped into one major category making information harder to find. What is needed is a redesigned navigational hierarchy (see figure below). This will make the site more organized based either on content, category, properties, attributes, materials, type of construction etc. The exact hierarchy will have to be determined based on business needs and objectives. After an initial prototype is designed, focus groups can be used to get additional input on whether the website meets objectives. Although a SDLC model can be used, we recommend a Prototype model in this case. 2. REORGANIZE CONTENT AND PROVIDE STRUCTURE Currently the website reads more like a newspaper than a website. There is a significant difference between the print medium (e.g. newspaper) and online interactive environment (such as a website). It is a well-known saying in the web industry that Content is King. 2

4 No matter how good the content, if it is not easy to find, visitors will move on to other sites. Based on our observation of the home page information, it scrolls endlessly and there are approximately 2500 words on the home page! To provide a comparison, UCCS home page has 254 words (Education category), HomeDepot has 626 words (B2C/B2B category), and Grainger Industrial Supply (B2B) has 921 words. As can be seen from these examples, the Homepage of gatesnfence.com has excessive content (primarily text) that needs to be trimmed so the home (landing) is pleasing and search optimized. In its present state, the website looks more like a paper copy of the Wall Street journal than an online medium. A good website should facilitate navigation and hyperlinking based on search terms of interest to the visitor. To achieve the goal of organized content and structure, the website redesign will also have to focus on improving typography and use of white space. 3. IMPROVE COLOR SCHEME Color plays an important part in aesthetic appeal of a website. It contributes to the success of brand, image, and retention of information on the part of consumers. The color theme should be consistent with print material and online promotions that use the brand logo and image. According to web researchers, 60% of acceptance or rejection of a website is tied to colors used on the web site. The color combination should match the products and services that are being provided. For example, when Lowe s wanted to take away marketshare from its dominant rival HomeDepot, they redesigned color schemes in their stores to be brighter (e.g. with more blue color) and florescent lights that make products look better. This same concept translated to their website which helped identify consistency in branding. Websites can use additional guidelines such as Red is best suited for call to action, Green is pleasing to the human eye, Black is best for photography and art, Blue is supposed to be relaxing. We developed a prototype of color combinations (see figure below) that can be used by Gates and Fences company. 3

Multimedia can also be used to emphasize and highlight operations such as functions of a touchpad that controls the gate.

5 4. USE IMAGES AND MULTIMEDIA EFFECTIVELY The nature of the product (gates and fences) lends itself well to the use of images. The images can be presented in a lightbox type media element that allows visitors to see a three dimensional look at the product based on different angles. Multimedia can also be used to emphasize and highlight operations such as functions of a touchpad that controls the gate. Related to multimedia is another function that helps customers interact with the company in real time. This can be done by using Live Chat that is popular among many big websites that sell equipment or appliances where consumers have a broad choice and may be interested in narrowing down product selection based on attributes. One such example of interactivity is shown below: The advantage of such a solution is that it can be outsourced to another company which has expertise in providing the live chat interactivity. A company provides database of information from which agents are able to answer consumer question and direct them to appropriate products that would fit consumer needs. 4

5. TAP INTO SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITY Examples: Blogs, Wikis, Facebook business page, Twitter Businesses not using social media today are at a disadvantage.

6 5. TAP INTO SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITY Examples: Blogs, Wikis, Facebook business page, Twitter Businesses not using social media today are at a disadvantage. As we have learned in this course, consumers have available to them a variety of devices that allow easy retrieval of information. Consumers also rely on shared community to help them select products. This community sharing of content can be facilitated by having Facebook business pages where users can Like a product or service as well as YouTube channels that showcases current installations as well as new products. In summary, a website has to be designed based on business objectives. Websites can be informational (static) or transactional (interactive). Using the above mentioned guidelines and recommendations, I believe gatesnfences.com can attract new visitors as well as encourage repeat visitors in both the B2B and B2C market segment. 5

The Quick Guide to Better Site Search

The Quick Guide to Better Site Search Start improving your site search today sli-systems.com sli-systems.com.au sli-systems.co.uk To accelerate your e-commerce, start with site search Turn Your Browsers