Manufacturers' websites have become more simplified, which is great
Using manufacturers' websites every day, we tend not to notice steady changes - a bit like when Auntie Flo says: "hasn't your little boy grown since I last saw him six months ago?" and you realise that actually, yes, he has shot up. I suspect websites are improving, although it's difficult to go back in time and get an overall impression of what we had to contend with, say, five years ago. That said, with the help of the Wayback Machine - you can have great fun looking at individual websites over the ages.
Last time I asked for your opinions on the suppliers' sites you have to use on a daily basis was a couple of years ago. Then, the response was overwhelming: lose the introductory animations and get us to the data sheets more quickly. Just the dreaded words "skip intro" have always been enough to send many of you scurrying off to another website; I remember one reader succinctly saying: "those two words immediately say to me 'style over substance' and give me a poor impression of the company before I've even looked at what they have to offer".
Manufacturers got the message, and websites have become progressively more simplified, which is great (although perversely, with fewer people on slow internet connections, all the showy stuff has become less of a problem). The main driver behind this improvement has, however, not just been "listening to the customer". Every website is becoming increasingly dependent on being listed properly in search engines, and if your website isn't clearly and simply structured, the search engines won't like it. The search engines have become consumer champions, in many ways.
So, what do you think? I'm guessing that almost everyone is using the web more than they were two or three years ago, but is it improving? What about the sites you have to go to (e.g those of your existing suppliers) for ongoing information? Is too much effort being put in to make sites appeal to casual web surfers, at the expense of their customer-service function?
And "if every manufacturer's website could be like this one", which would you nominate?
Last time I asked for your opinions on the suppliers' sites you have to use on a daily basis was a couple of years ago. Then, the response was overwhelming: lose the introductory animations and get us to the data sheets more quickly. Just the dreaded words "skip intro" have always been enough to send many of you scurrying off to another website; I remember one reader succinctly saying: "those two words immediately say to me 'style over substance' and give me a poor impression of the company before I've even looked at what they have to offer".
Manufacturers got the message, and websites have become progressively more simplified, which is great (although perversely, with fewer people on slow internet connections, all the showy stuff has become less of a problem). The main driver behind this improvement has, however, not just been "listening to the customer". Every website is becoming increasingly dependent on being listed properly in search engines, and if your website isn't clearly and simply structured, the search engines won't like it. The search engines have become consumer champions, in many ways.
So, what do you think? I'm guessing that almost everyone is using the web more than they were two or three years ago, but is it improving? What about the sites you have to go to (e.g those of your existing suppliers) for ongoing information? Is too much effort being put in to make sites appeal to casual web surfers, at the expense of their customer-service function?
And "if every manufacturer's website could be like this one", which would you nominate?
posted by Chris on Thursday, February 17, 2005
<< Home