building a customer focused website

Building a Customer

Focused WebsitePutting customers first…

Presented by Rob Anderson

It's all about me…

Hey, I want a say too

Don’t make me wait

Make it easy to find stuff

I hate complex forms

Less is more

I want to learn

“If you don’t take care of me, I’ll go somewhere else”

When things go wrong

Don’t make me think

Why should I buy from

you?

Keep me informed

I want to get in touch

Hey, I want a say too…

Let me comment

Let me provide feedback

Let me rate you

Let me tell my friends

“I want to feel that I have a say and that my opinion counts”

• I feel engaged when I can comment

• It makes me think you want to listen to your customers

• I might know something valuable

• Sometimes I want to vent

Let me comment

• I have great ideas too• Can I ask a question?• I’d like to let you know

about a problem with your website

• I think you’re doing a great job

• It’s interesting to see what others say

Let me provide feedback

• Some pages really annoy me and I want to let you know

• I like to tell you when you’re doing something good

• I’m influenced by how others rate your pages

Let me rate you

• I have friends who might like this too

• I want to promote this page on my Twitter channel

• I’d like to tell the Digg community about your website

Let me tell my friends

Don’t make me wait

I don’t have time for this…

Break it down for me

Use images for impact

“A fast, responsive website means you value my time”

• It took over 10 seconds for the Mercury website to load

• Adding 100ms to the response time meant a 1% drop in sales on Amazon

• Adding 500ms, only half a second, resulted in 20% fewer searches Google

I don’t have time for this

• I want to find out about your product, but…

• …I don’t want it all at once

• Let me choose the information that interests me most

• Make it easy and fun!

Break it down for me

• I like images, but you don’t need heaps of them to make an impact

• I don’t like waiting for lots of images to load

• Don’t just rely on images to tell the story

Use images for impact

Make it easy to find stuff…

I’m familiar with Google

I like simple navigation

Focus on what’s of value to me

Focus on what I can do

“Help me to find the stuff that interests me most”

• If you’re going to have a search, make sure it works like Google

• I have high expectations of Google, so don’t disappoint me

• Track Google Custom Searches with Google Analytics

I’m familiar with Google

• Your navigation should tell me what’s in your site• If the labels don’t make sense, I won’t click on them• Fancy navigation doesn’t impress me

I like simple navigation

• Put yourself in my shoes

• Give me benefits, not just features

• Tell me the truth, warts and all

• If you can’t convince me, I won’t buy what you’re selling

Focus on what’s of value to me

• Show me what I can do on your website

• Make it easy for me to complete those tasks I do most often

• Provide helpful advice and support so I can get the job done

Focus on what I can do

I hate complex forms…

Make it simple

Make it friendly

Correct me if I’m wrong

Make long forms easy

Help me along the way

“I don’t mind filling in forms, if they’re quick and easy”

• Don’t complicate things

• Big boxes are easy to use

• I like buttons that stand out

• Help me when I’m in the wrong place or I forget things

Make it simple

• Simple doesn’t mean boring

• I like it when you know my name

• It’s OK to have some fun

• You don’t have to be serious all the time

Make it friendly

• I like to know when I’ve made a mistake

• Tell me exactly what I need to do to fix things

• Help me as I go (don’t wait till the end)

• I don’t like nasty alert messages

Correct me if I’m wrong

• I don’t mind filling in long forms, but you’ve got to break it down for me

• Let me know how I’m progressing

• Make sure I can go back and change things later on

Make long forms easy

• I like it when you follow along with me

• I like helpful messages as I fill in the form

• Labels above the fields are easy to read

• Why can’t all forms be this easy!

Help me along the way

Less is more…

Say the bare minimum

Make text easy to read

Hide the less important stuff

Don’t overwhelm me

“I’m busy, so don’t make me read huge amounts of text”

• Sometimes you only need one page to say it all

• I should get the ‘gist’ of your site almost immediately

• If I’m still scratching my head after 10 seconds, you’ve lost me

Say the bare minimum

• I read so much online, it’s a pleasure to not have to strain to read itty, bitty, text

• Big headings jump out at me

• Big text forces you to says just what you need to and no more

Make text easy to read

• Put the most important information at the top

• I’ll scroll down the bottom for other information

• It’s good to know it’s there if I need it

Hide the less important stuff

• What has Google learnt that Alta Vista and Yahoo didn’t?

KeepItSimple Stupid

Don’t overwhelm me

I want to learn…

Publish informative presentation

Publish informative videos

Provide online tutorials

Offer interesting articles

“I will value your site if you take the time to educate me”

• I like informative presentations

• Make it easy for me to embed your presentation in my blog

• It’s nice you made this for free

• I want to tell my friends

Publish informative presentations

• I like informative or entertaining videos

• Make it easy for me to embed your video on my website

• I want to tell my friends

Publish informative videos

• I love video demos or tutorials

• I’ll give anybody one minute of my time to watch a good video

• I feel more inclined to use your products, because I’m confident I can use them

Provide online tutorials

• I like it when you take the time to explain things in detail

• Your insights are of real value to me

• I tell lots of people about your excellent articles

• I like to read other people’s comments about your articles

Offer interesting articles

When things go wrong…

I like lots of support

I don’t mind learning form others

Be helpful!

“If your site offers good support it tells me that you value me”

• I need to know you’re there when things go wrong

• Offer me lots of different forms of help

• I’m quite capable of helping myself

• Personal support is nice too

I like lots of support

• I learn so much from forums

• Other people have often already encountered and solved my problems

• I’m grateful to you for setting up this helpful community

I don’t mind learning from others

• It’s nice when you help me when I get off track

• I know you care about your customers, even when things go wrong

• I don’t feel so stupid now

Be helpful!

Don’t make me think…

Clear calls to action

What is your site about again?

Every page needs a clear purpose

Use patterns I’m familiar with

“Sites are easy to use when I don’t have to think too hard”

• I like it when the next options are crystal clear

• It’s almost like you’re reading my mind

• I like big buttons that stand out

Clear calls to action

• I hate sites that don’t know what they’re about

• I should know what your site is about almost immediately

• Pictures or previews can be very helpful

What was your site about again?

• I like it when you are clear about what you offer

• I like it when your messages are nicely bundled

• Highlighting the important bits helps me when I’m in a hurry

Every page needs a clear purpose

• I’ve seen that type of navigation before, so I know how to use it

• I like it when each section of your site works the same way

• Consistent highlighting helps me keep track of where I am

Use patterns I’m familiar with

Why should I buy from you?

Make it easy to compare prices

Are you better than your competitors?

What features do you offer?

Who else uses you?

I like to hear customers like you

“I will buy from you if you offer value and make it easy”

• Help me choose the right plan

• Let me know what most other customers choose

• Free trials take the risk out of buying

• I like simple plans

Make it easy to compare prices

• I know you have competitors

• I want to know why you’re so special

• Convince me to go with you

• If you’re so good, the reasons will be obvious

• Be honest

Are you better than your competitors?

• I am influenced by what other people say about you• I like to know that others use your services and are

happy they did• If they like you, maybe I will too

I like to hear customers like you

• If lots of other companies use you, you must be doing something right

• I like to know I’m going with a top company

• I want to know you’ll still be around in a few years

Who else uses you?

• A feature list helps me decide if your product is right for me

• I like to know what benefits your features offer

• Pictures and previews help me learn faster

What features do you offer?

Keep me informed…

Let me know immediately

Email me on a regular basis

Let me subscribe in my own way

I use my mobile too

“If you ignore me, I’ll think you don’t care about me”

• I like to hear about breaking news

• I like to hear about special offers

• I feel special when I’m in on the goss’

• I get a sense of your personality through your Twitter channel

Let me know immediately

• Just because I’m a customer now, doesn’t mean you can ignore me

• You convinced me to go with you, so reassure me I made the right choice

• I like to hear about new products and services

Email me on a regular basis

• I like to subscribe using RSS or…

ReallySimpleSyndication

• RSS gives me the freedom to read your updates my own way

Let me subscribe in my own way

• I’m using my mobile to browse websites more often these days

• It’s nice to know you support mobile users too

• I like it when you tailor the website for people on the move

I use my mobile too

I want to get in touch…

What was your number again?

Can I talk to you online?

“Make it easy for me to contact you about anything”

• I want to talk to a real person, so what’s your number?

• I’ll still try the online version before calling (if you make it easy enough)

• I like Toll Free numbers

What was your number again?

• I have a burning question, but would rather not call (and wait in a queue)

• I like Live Chat support where I can ask a quick question immediately

Can I talk to you online?

• MailChimp• GetSatisfaction• Vodafone New Zealand• ShareThis• Pingdom• Coda• Mint• Google• The Box• Inland Revenue (NZ)• FreshBooks• FormSpring

• WordPress• RememberTheMilk• Smashing Magazine• WuFoo• CampaignMonitor• SlideShare• YouTube• Yoast• BaseCamp• Twitter• MobiReady

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