It's All Geek To Me - September 28th 2006

Pushing the Design Envelope in a Bad Way Recently I had a very interesting discussion with a successful site owner about his basic design. I pointed out that his look was getting old and that he was probably overdue for fresh graphics. He responded that since his site was doing "better than ever" he didn't see any reason to update the design.

While I usually wouldn't argue with the "don't fix it if it isn't broke" argument, he is doing something that unfortunately is getting typical - pushing the design envelope in a bad way. It is likely that the efficacy of each page - especially with new visitors - is declining while overall sales continue to increase.

The overall look and feel of your site is of massive importance to a critical group - the first time visitor. They are seeking clues about you and your company, trying to understand quickly what you are about. Great design causes new folks to "get it" quickly and existing customers to say, "Oh yes, That is the ABC Company that I love." This is like the chairs in a waiting room or how clean the bathroom is at a lawyer's office - the less people know about you the more important they consider those subtle clues to be.

Your image should be reflective of you and your business - and it can succeed in a wide array of formats - from funny to overly serious, from uptight to loosy-goosy, from premium expensive to the cheapest price - anything can work. The one true across all formats is that as your look ages your efficacy declines. If you wait until your design is having clear impacts on the bottom line you've waited much too long and will be forced to "recover" when your new look launches.

So the real trick for a web site owner is to figure out where on that curve you are - do you have a site that is past prime and pushing the design envelope? How do you make a plan for a redesign?

The first and most important thing to be aware of is that sites are never "Done". I can hear the groans of "I know that", but take a minute and understand it for what it is. This is a unique thing about the web and truthfully it is a pain - every other marketing project you do has an ending, you get to cross it off your to do list, and you can forget about it - but not web sites. One of the biggest challenges for lots of folks - especially old school marketers - is this mental shift.

Once you accept the notion you'll never be done, you can make a plan to keep your design fresh and effective over time. I usually start by considering age and expenditure – a design should last you about a year and a half or so. You might get a bit more time with careful planning or a bit less out of a rush job. The best site owners put aside a percentage of each month's profits for the next design they'll need.

The next thing to be aware of is your efficacy - which can be measured by conversion rate. (don't know what the heck conversion rate is? See this old issue of IAGTM) If you are using an advanced statistics package, be sure you are measuring your conversion rate on new visitors only as they are the best indicator of a design getting a bit stale. If you see your conversion rate decline three months in a row, take that as a clear sign you need some design work.

The last thing to keep in mind is what other folks - especially others in your field - are doing. Make a list of sites that are important to your industry and visit them regularly. Keeping tabs on what is going on out there provides critical information for your design strategy.

There is no "correct" time for a redesign - by the time the signs are crystal clear it's needed, you've waited too long. Resist the temptation to "not fix it" as that will bite you in the bottom line long term. Be aware of the age of your design and have a plan in place for replacement. Keep a very close eye on your conversion rate, as it's the single best monitor of overall website health. Get your browser moving and keep an eye on what is going on in your field.

The very best sites never seem to be "redesigned", as they make slight changes regularly. A visit to the Wayback Machine (archive.org) will help you see what I'm talking about - a peek at what the Amazon.com home page looked like each month of 2004 can be very educational indeed. This is also the very best place to check out the design strategies of your competitors.

When you get your car out of the garage each morning, you know the building will need paint eventually. Wait too long and the project will be much more work - it'll look "fine" long after it should have been done. I'd encourage you to think of site design as just part of your regular chores - doing so will pay off in the long run with an improved bottom line.

What's New at KISS Computing

KISS is pleased to announce it has contracted with a company in Dublin, Ireland, Rental Solutions - Ireland, for the development of our first web site for rental property listings, both for vacation/holiday letting and for yearly letting. The site will be a software-as-services system allowing for the opening of accounts by property auctioneers/letting agents and property owners, the integration of those accounts with customers' existing web sites, the "live" online booking of properties with electronic signing of Rental Agreements, a dynamic Availability Calendar feature and the management of rental period inventories. The site is scheduled to launch in late September or early October.

KISS is actively marketing this Software-as-Services business model for regions all over the world, and is in discussions with others for specific geographical areas, including Cape Cod, MA USA. Rental Solutions-Ireland.com will serve properties in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, as well as properties in Spain and Portugal under Irish ownership.

KISS is pleased, also, to announce its latest web site launch: www.wesupportlocalbusiness.com, a web site devoted to promoting the local economy by supporting local businesses. Shawn Delude, owner of Nauset Disposal, has been preaching that concept for quite some time, in an effort to convince Cape Cod that it's important to keep our local dollars local. He's taken that concept online now with a site that offers local businesses a full web page listing on this new site where they can promote themselves and offer coupons and discounts to local consumers. The site is membership driven, and local businesses also can purchase banner ad space on the site to reach out to local consumers.

As Shawn has reminded us on more than one occasion, $0.45 out of every dollar spent with a local business stays local; but only $0.13 of every dollar spent with a national business stays here. His new site, also known in its shorter version as www.WeSLB.com, brings this message home and encourages all local consumers to spend locally.

KISS developed both the software functionality and the web site for Shawn, and is already busy working on the next module for the system that will expand the ability of local businesses to reach out to the Cape Cod community. Be sure to watch this site as it progresses, and don't be surprised to see versions of www.WeSLB.com spring up in other parts of the country as Shawn takes his message on the road.