1. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
Web is interactive
People must DO something in order to
discover what a web site is about
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site 1
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 2
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 1

2. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
We are creatures of habit, and rely on patterns to
y p
save time and energy of constantly learning
something new
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 3
We are creatures of habit, and rely on p
y patterns to
save time and energy of constantly learning
something new
Most popular web sites have similar patterns
People are comfortable with what
they already know
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 4
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 2

3. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
“Don’t make me think!”
--Steve Krug
Steve
30 seconds to engage or lose
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 5
Good for your business
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 6
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 3

4. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
1. What is this organization about?
2. What is this web site about?
3. How do I find what I’m looking for?
4. What can I do next?
5. How can I get back to where I was?
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 7
Strategy
Communicates the purpose of your business and your site
 Tag line that explicitly summarizes what the organization
and/or site does
 Value proposition clearly stated
 Name and logo at top / in upper left corner
3/24/2009 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 8
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 4

5. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
Should be able to answer the five questions
looking at ANY page on the web site
Home page
ALL other pages
3/24/2009 Best Practices for Your Web Site 9
Site Structure
Home
Products Services
Product Product
Service A Service B
A B
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 10
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 5

6. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
Home
Industries About Contact
Products News Us
Served Us
Product A Product B
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 11
Navigation
Main navigation and local navigation
Both are available on every page
Deep navigation on home page
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 12
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 6

7. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
Navigation
Navigation links are underlined and in a
different color
When you click on a link, you go to content that
you expect to see
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 13
Design
Home page is clearly different from other pages, but
design is consistent throughout site
Looks like a recent site, rather than an old, out of date site
Name & logo are in upper left or across top, tagline at top
Site wide navigation across top
Local navigation down left or right side
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 14
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
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8. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
Content
 Subheads
 Bulleted lists
 Highlighted keywords
 Short paragraphs
 The inverted pyramid
 A simple writing style
 De-fluffed language devoid of marketese.
--Jakob Nielsen,
Alertbox
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 15
Measuring Success
Are you achieving your goals?
Is your site easier to use?
Are people spending more time on your site and returning
more frequently?
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 16
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 8

9. Make Your Web Site Worth Visiting 3/24/2009
Resources
Don t
Don’t Make Me Think Steve Krug
Think,
Jakob Nielsen: useit.com/alertbox, also numerous books
Usability.gov – covers many best practices for web site
usability, with supporting research, (though site needs
usability improvements)
Google Analytics: google.com/analytics
March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619 17
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of
Commerce 9