Does My Website Look Right to You?Analyzing Yours and Your Competitions’ websites

Does My Website Look Right to You?Analyzing Yours and Your Competitions’ websites

Christie Who?

Know your visitors28 years old just earned her Master’s degree; standard 12 month engagement; has been with partner for 4 years (they met in Switzerland)Parents have a 2nd home in a mountain resort town, she’s been every year since she was a childEnjoys hiking, camping, traveling, knitting, drawing, cooking and readingPlans to start her own farm-to-table non-profitConsiders herself sensible with great style

Client Profile: Monica

Know thyself!

SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

Branding + niches: You the Curator

UsabilityIt doesn’t matter how good or bad your site looks if a visitor can’t figure out how to use it

Usability: Headlines

Are your headlines clear and descriptive?

Usability: HeadlinesAre your headlines clear and descriptive?

Usability: Headlines

Take a Cue from Cosmo!

Cosmo Headline – “The 22 Best Relationship Tips Ever”

Cosmo Headline – “Guys Spill: White Lies They Tell Women All the Time”

Cosmo Headline – “Get Ahead Faster: 12 Brilliant (and Slightly Badass) Ways to Do It”

Cosmo Headline – “Your Sexual Health: Crucial New Facts Your Gyno Forgot to Mention”

Usability: Contact

Do you have a clearly visible way to contact you and is the process as simple as possible?

Usability: Contact

Do you have a clearly visible way to contact you and is the process as simple as possible?

Usability: Contact

Do you have a clearly visible way to contact you and is the process as simple as possible?

Usability: Contact

Do you have a clearly visible way to contact you and is the process as simple as possible?

Usability: Contact

Do you have a clearly visible way to contact you and is the process as simple as possible?

Usability: URL structure

Is your URL structure clean and readable?

http://www.stylemepretty.com/

gallery/photo/132244

Usability: URL structure

http://hindsightbride.com/2011/06/03/mountain-weddings-

roundup-national-park-rustic/

Usability: Linking

Do you link to related pages within your site?

Usability: Linking

Do you link to related pages within your site?

Usability: Layout

Is your layout clean and uncluttered (high quality images? organized information?)

Usability: Layout

Usability: Layout

Usability: Fonts

Are the fonts readable?

Usability: Sidebar

Is the sidebar content used for useful information?

Usability: Sidebar

Is the sidebar content used for useful information?

Or Junk that feeds your ego?

Usability: Sidebar

Used your side bar for premium information: newsletter offers, freebies, navigational purposes

Usability: Anchor links

Are your destination anchor links descriptive of where they’ll be taking the visitor?

Usability: Anchor links

Are your destination anchor links descriptive of where they’ll be taking the visitor?

Usability: ConsistencyIs it consistent on every page?

Usability: ConsistencyIs it consistent on every page?

Usability: Search Bar

Does your site have a search bar to easily find content users are looking for?

(Not a Google search bar, that’s unnecessary)

Usability: Content

Is your premium content above the fold?

Usability: Content

Is it all easily readable and scannable?

Usability: TestingSetting up a quick and dirty usability test

Usability: TestingWhich Color?

Usability: TestingWhich Website?

Usability: TestingWhich Website?

Two Sites Compared

Hey Mr. DJ:

I had to wait for the site to load...

Two Sites Compared

Hey Mr. DJ:

Then an intro popped up

Two Sites Compared

Hey Mr. DJ:

I “skipped”it but then I had to “enter” the site

Two Sites Compared

Hey Mr. DJ:

Auto Play Music ARG!

Two Sites Compared

Hey Mr. DJ:

Good visual hierarchy + headlines; weird scrolling

Two Sites Compared

Hey Mr. DJ:

How do you feel looking at this page?

Two Sites Compared

Hey Mr. DJ:

How easy is it to contact this DJ?

Two Sites Compared

Plurable:

Home

Two Sites Compared

Plurable:

Gallery

Two Sites Compared

Plurable:

About + Pricing

Two Sites Compared

Plurable:

About + Pricing

Two Sites Compared

Plurable:

Contact

Two Sites Compared

Plurable:

Blog

Your Competitors {Event Planners}

Competitors’ Operational Tactics

Competitors’ Operational Tactics

Competitors’ Operational Tactics

Does your competitor offer some sort of guarantee?

Competitors’ Operational Tactics

Does your competitor offer some sort of guarantee?

Competitors’ Operational Tactics

Does your competitor offer some sort of guarantee?

Do they offer promotional packages at regular intervals?

Competitors’ Operational Tactics

Does your competitor offer some sort of guarantee?

Do they offer promotional packages at regular intervals?

Do they have a strong customer management system that encourages engagement and generates leads?

Competitors’ Operational Tactics

Does your competitor offer some sort of guarantee?

Do they offer promotional packages at regular intervals?

Do they have a strong customer management system that encourages engagement and generates leads?

Learn from your Competitors

Sign up for their newsletter

Analyze their special offers and customer relationships (look at comments on their blog, or social media engagement)

Learn from your Competitors

Sign up for their newsletter

Analyze their special offers and customer relationships (look at comments on their blog, or social media engagement)

Learn from your Competitors

Sign up for their newsletter

Analyze their special offers and customer relationships (look at comments on their blog, or social media engagement)

How are you seen?

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts)

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com)

Use Nutshell Mail

Conduct a survey (Survey Monkey, Google Docs)

link: www.hindsightbride.com

How are you seen?

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts)

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com)

Use Nutshell Mail

Conduct a survey (Survey Monkey, Google Docs)

link: www.hindsightbride.com

How are you seen?

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts)

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com)

Use Nutshell Mail

Conduct a survey (Survey Monkey, Google Docs)

link: www.hindsightbride.com

How are you seen?

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts)

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com)

Use Nutshell Mail

Conduct a survey (Survey Monkey, Google Docs)

link: www.hindsightbride.com

How are you seen?

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts)

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com)

Use Nutshell Mail

Conduct a survey (Survey Monkey, Google Docs)

link: www.hindsightbride.com

How are you seen?

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts)

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com)

Use Nutshell Mail

Conduct a survey (Survey Monkey, Google Docs)

link: www.hindsightbride.com

Make a new friend

Create relationships between fellow entrepreneurs rather than fostering cold competition

Planners Kathryn Arce and Rebecca Grinnals