Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Seven Sins of Web Site Design

I read this in the May 15 issues of Market News, a publication of the American Marketing Association. I thought the information was important for insurance agents to know - bottom line is your Web site should speak to how you can help your customers, not how great your agency is (note: the text in italics is stuff I added myself):

The Seven Sins of Web Site Design

PRIDE: Talking only about yourself/your company: putting the CEO's picture on your home page.

GREED: Asking customers for so much information to register (quote) on your site that they decide it's not worth their time.

ENVY: Wanting every gadget and feature your competitors have on their sites.

WRATH: Making outrageous statements about your company or trying to frighten site visitors into working with you.

LUST: Emphasizing flashy content over substance.

GLUTTONY: Stuffing too much content onto your home page and other site pages, making the site difficult to read and difficult to connect with emotionally.

SLOTH: Being lazy in how you test your customer reasion and usage of your site. (And failing to keep it upddated with fresh, interesting information!)