Even Bad Corporate Websites are Expensive. Is Yours any Good?

No one sets out to have a “bad” website, so how does it happen?

It so often starts with a misunderstanding of what “good” looks like. This can be an over-emphasis on flashy design or content minimalism; focusing on one set of stakeholders at the expense of all the others; or innovating for innovations sake. Re-imagining website navigation is not so helpful if your users simply end up lost.

At the most basic level, a good corporate website is about effectiveness

An effective corporate digital channel:

1) fulfils visitor goals; and

2) communicates company narratives that build trust and persuade stakeholders.

Going further, effectiveness is based on fundamentals

• Understanding user behaviour and goals is key for both design and content.
• Company narratives are important and necessary, but they take a back seat to user goals (or ideally sit neatly alongside).
• The website is likely to be your biggest owned channel and it is vital for building trust and reputation.
• An effective website is backed by clear governance processes and relationships.

So how do you measure if your website is good or bad? In the simplest terms:

ask your visitors if they are meeting their goals, and look at what other organisations are doing and learn from them.

These principles are deeply embedded in the tools we use to evaluate corporate digital performance – benchmarking, visitor research and bespoke consultancy. Our clients use our methodical approach to get a full picture of the good and bad of their corporate digital channels; see where the gaps to best practice are; and a clear roadmap of recommendations to close them.

Beyond a minimum baseline, more money does not equal more success

There is no getting around the fact that you need a corporate website, and it costs money. Get in touch to see how Bowen Craggs’ cost-effective evaluation tools make the difference between an expensive and poor-quality web presence or an expensive and effective one.