10 Reasons why websites fail for organisations

Your organisation may have a website but are you confident it is effectively delivering an improved level of service?

Over 70% of households^, 92% of small businesses and 99% of medium size business are currently connected to the Internet* which results in an increased demand for a better level of service. It is now more important than ever that emphasis is placed on delivering websites which achieve the customer goals as well as organisational objectives.

AdditionalView are frequently asked to "fix" websites that just don’t achieve the intended objectives and in doing so have identified the following top 10 reasons why websites fail:

1. The website isn’t search engine optimised. Search engines work in a highly specific fashion and many poorly designed websites are 'invisible' to search engines and to customers. This can dramatically affect your search engine listing when users search for your organisation or products and services.
2. Flash animation is misused, making your website distracting and frustrating. This can distract the user preventing them from reading important information about the organisation, its products and services, on their terms. It can also frustrate users due to increased download times.
3. The website has been designed for style not strategy. Many inexperienced website developers jump straight into design without considering key organizational objectives or the intended target audience. The website may look fantastic but does it achieve its intended purpose? Is it easy to use? Does the design distract the user from reading the core information on the website?
4. Contact details are hard to find. The Internet is all about speed and efficiency - online customers have very little tolerance for organisations that make them search for a phone number.
5. The website is not advertised offline. Many organisations forget to include their website address on stationery, vehicles, on buildings and in advertising.
6. Website addresses are not obvious. Long, unusual website addresses with dashes or punctuation make it difficult for customers to guess or remember. Customers like simple, easy to remember web addresses.
7. Many websites forget to ask visitors to act. Important calls to action to join, register, contact or submit are not placed in an obvious location. Don't make customers search the page for instructions. Place calls to action in an obvious place on the pages and don’t be afraid to repeat them more than once where relevant.
8. Website content is out of date. This makes an organisation look unorganised and sloppy, causing a negative perception of the organisation and may result in a customer failing to return to the website.
9. Website content is long winded. Customers read less on screen than on paper, scanning text and looking for keywords and headings. Regurgitating offline content such as brochures bombards the user with too much information and moves large amounts of copy out of the page scroll area. You run the risk of users ignoring the excess copy and missing the key information on the page.
10. The website does not comply with W3C accessibility standards. Customers with vision impairment or low literacy levels are seriously disadvantaged with websites that don’t comply with these standards.

^ Source: Internet World Stats 2007

* Source: Sensis eBusiness Report 2007