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Forget Harry Potter for a moment – one
of the biggest publishing successes at the
moment is a book chronicling the life and times
of a ‘lady of the night’.
The book features the website diary of a mystery
woman which attracted massive hits before catching
the eye of a publishing house.
This website is proof of how private individuals
rather than companies are breaking new ground
on the web. Some of today’s really
exciting sites are in fact web logs - or
blogs to use the vernacular – used by
egocentric individuals to record their daily
experiences.
Contrast what is happening here with a typical
corporate website. If you remain awake long
enough you will notice the standard menu bar
on top of the screen providing options giving
a potted history of the company, its trading
record, international network, and some information
on the directors.
If it is a public company there will be information
geared for investors such as stock exchange
releases, a share price graph and links to
its financial advisors.
Companies need to show a lot more imagination
in designing their websites which are, after
all, a shop window for the business. Would
you expect to find autumn fashions on display
in the spring? Of course not.
When pitching for new business most firms
point out how they differ from their rivals.
Yet check out the website and it is probably
a mirror image of its closest competitor. The
language will be stilted – corporate
speak in other words – with illustrations
showing dreary ranks of suited executives.
Partly the fault lies with the company but
lazy website designers are also to blame for
rolling out the same standardised product.
You would not expect to buy a newspaper containing
old news. Yet companies are frequently guilty
of failing to update their websites. Anecdotal
evidence suggests over 80% of sites contain
old and inaccurate information. This is not
good enough. Now that updating sites is simpler
and no longer solely the province of the webmaster,
organisations should be able to keep on top
of the problem.
The web is a wonderful selling tool for firms
but many pay lip service to the medium. For
some companies the web can work against their
best interests. A poorly designed site reflects
badly on the business and can turn potential
customers away.
With oil prices marching towards $70 a barrel
the cost of moving goods and people is going
to become more expensive. So the potential
for cost savings by doing more business online
is growing.
Action should therefore be taken now to tackle
the problem. If there are insufficient resources
within the business then it is relatively inexpensive
to hire outside expertise to update a website
and ensure it provides accurate, easy to understand
information about the company and its services.
About the author
Dr Marc Pinter-Krainer, Chief Executive of
Knowledge Technology Solutions PLC |
