Evolution Web Development

Evolution Web Development

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Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies, Part 10: Not Hiring a Writer to Get Clear, Crisp, Compelling Copy»

Sep 29, 2010; Category: Bad Websites/Good Companies, Communication, Design/Development, Information Architecture, Marketing; Tags: , , , ; No Comments

There’s a myth in website design that “no one reads the copy.” It’s not entirely true. While most of the people who visit your website will not read most of the copy, the few visitors who are really interested in what you have to offer will. If they’re really interested, they’re your best prospects. And

Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies, Part 9: Having a Print Designer Design Your Website»

Sep 9, 2010; Category: Bad Websites/Good Companies, Design/Development, Information Architecture, Usability; Tags: , ; 2 Comments

It’s amazing to me that this still happens with a fair degree of regularity. It would seem obvious that print and the web are two distinct mediums requiring different expertise. But unfortunately, it’s not uncommon. Design-is-design-is-design to many people, and many of them continue to think of web design as “on-screen graphic design.” I’ve discussed

Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies, Part 8: Creating Barriers to Downloading Free Information»

Mar 26, 2009; Category: Accessibility, Bad Websites/Good Companies, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: , , ; No Comments

Giving away stuff on your website is a really smart thing to do. It’s an opportunity to spread your ideas or information about your products and services, sometimes in exchange for a little bit of information that could be helpful in your marketing. It’s a very simple process, but companies screw it up all the

Part 7, Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies: Failure to Install or Monitor Site Analytics»

Feb 15, 2009; Category: Bad Websites/Good Companies, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: , , , ; One Comment

You would think that a company that puts many thousands of dollars into its website would want to track website results to find out how many unique visitors it gets, where they come from, what content is most read, and dozens of other useful bits of information that have the potential to inform smart decisions

Part 6, Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies: Too Much Stuff on the Home Page»

Jan 21, 2009; Category: Accessibility, Bad Websites/Good Companies, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: , , ; No Comments

You’ve seen those homepages with 3 product lead-ins and 2 giveaways and NEW!!! special pricing and the latest news and a billboard about what the company stands for and the mission statement and a picture of the CEO and an announcement about the company picnic and a picture of the dog by the sales manager’s

Part 5, Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies: Having a “Splash” Page»

Jan 12, 2009; Category: Accessibility, Bad Websites/Good Companies, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: , , ; 4 Comments

Splash pages represent a fundamental misunderstanding of the online medium. Often, they come from a print perspective ("books should have a cover"), or sometimes from a broadcast perspective ("a show should have an intro"). In user surveys, splash pages consistently rank as one of the most annoying things on the internet, but there are still

Part 4, Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies: Leaving the Website to the Webmaster or Web Designer»

Jan 8, 2009; Category: Bad Websites/Good Companies, Business, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: , , ; No Comments

Don’t get me wrong: web designers and programmers are critical to the process of creating a website. But they cannot manufacture a viable web presence without the ongoing interest and participation of C-level (CEO, COO, etc.) managers in establishing, supporting, and adjusting a company’s web strategy. Companies that don’t understand the place their websites have