Simple Web Site Evaluation
By Jay Rodimel

A full Web site audit involves evaluating your site as part of your marketing strategy for your particular market because what may be the best site for you may not necessarily be the best site for your neighbor.

Consider the following questions:
  1. Is your Web site simply an online business card with only basic contact information and some brief copy?
  2. Does your site inform visitors about your services and current events concerning your practice?
  3. Does your Web site aim to collect information from visitors for a database?
  4. Can your clients review and pay their bills online?
Rather than simply having a laundry list of advanced features, your site should work for you. Visitors to your site should have a clear understanding of how to use and how you would like them to use your site.

A broken link is like an office full of rubble with the door left open for your clients ...
Provided you eschew advanced features and generate Web content in-house, you can have a relatively inexpensive well designed site.

A well designed site enables visitors to locate needed information with minimal effort, is visually appealing and creates a favorable impression of your practice.

Talk with your best clients and learn what information they find relevant and would most like to see on your site because, first and foremost, information on your site should be relevant to the client.

A well designed site will generally have the following attributes: Anything on your site with a loading timer on it needs to go because your visitors need to stay. Some remote areas still only have access to 28.8 connections. Keeping your site light on graphics will improve loading speed.

It really is so easy to overdo Web site graphics. A minimal look with a fair amount of white space always looks appropriate for a law firm Web site. Optimizing the images on your site for the Web is important because it directly affects loading time. Print resolution is 300 dpi (dots per inch). Monitor resolution is 72 dpi. Those extra dots make for a hefty image that takes much longer to load and looks no better on the screen.

Some people will visit your site solely for contact information. Have it readily visible.

... a Flash intro is one of those turgid multimedia things you're made to sit though when you first visit a site ...
Organizing copy for online reading is important because people read Web copy differently from how they read printed materials. Most people read information online in an “F” pattern and do not mind scrolling when reading something that really interests them.

For presenting a variety of topics and to maintain a cleaner look, you can link short copy to longer copy. Google and other search engines do factor in the amount of relevant copy to determine ranking.

Most people navigate sites with vertical left hand side navigation more quickly than sites with horizontal navigation because vertical left hand side navigation is consistent with “F” pattern reading.  

One bad link will spoil a site. A broken link is like an office full of rubble with the door left open for your clients to see. A non functioning link is like directing your client to room with a locked door. They’ll try the handle a couple times and give up in embarrassment.

While the terms Flash intro and splash page are sometimes used interchangeably, a Flash intro is one of those turgid multimedia things you’re made to sit though when you first visit a site and a splash page is a home page in a different format from the rest of the site and usually has a large visual element or multimedia feature.

I realize some firms have a lot of practice groups and therefore will have a much greater challenge presenting all their information concisely without using a splash page. It can be done. Please consider that Google and other search engines read text and not images. This means that elaborate multimedia content goes unread and unlisted by search engines.

Instead of “Under Construction”, come up with at least one good sentence. If you cannot, remove the link and add it when you’re ready.

Ultimately, if the client can easily locate the information he needs, finds your site visually appealing and gains a favorable impression of your practice, you’ve got a well designed site.

Would you like to know more? Send Jay an E-mail (jay@jayrodimel.com) today and arrange for a free evaluation of your Web site.

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