Bartlett's eValuator continues to prove that the majority of websites are not well optimized. Visually, anyone can see whether a website is well designed or not but many people are unaware of just how many other key elements make a website successful.

Based on the eValuator results dating back to October 2008, over 37% of the websites entered received a grade below 50%. See the pie chart below for a complete overview:

The grade is based on behind the scenes factors such as Google PageRank, indexed pages, meta tags, PR, and more.

To see what grade your website receives, try out the eValuator now.

Check out this short video about Bartlett Interactive including what we focus on and a few examples of work we have done.

Learn about 3 tools that can make your website more visually interesting, simply and inexpensively. Our screencast "How to Make Websites More Visual" discusses ThickBox, SlideShow Pro, and Flash video with numerous examples and pricing info.

It has been 4 months since the launch of Bartlett's website eValuator tool.
 
For those who have not seen it, it is a tool used to assess the health of a website based on different indicators, such as search engine rankings, technical issues, marketing components and analytics.
 
The results have proven the inevitable: most websites are not well optimized.
 
Since the launch, 72% of all websites entered into the eValuator received a score below 80 (out of 100) and 83% in the month of February. Some of the common problems for small websites are the lack of an xml sitemap, favicon, and rss feed.

• An xml sitemap is a map of your site that helps search engines better index the pages of your site.
• A favicon is a small icon in the corner of the URL bar and can increase branding recognition by have one. 
• An RSS feed is helpful for sharing news about your company, new additions to your website, and more. The more you share information, the more visible you will be online.

 
Check back for new posts on more eValuator statistics.
To try the eValuator out for yourself and see how your website measures up, click here.

An image makes a big difference for someone trying to absorb your message. It’s instant communication – no words required. Now that we all have huge screens, why not web sites with huge photos?

I recently came across a photoblog by the Denver Post which does an incredible job of using big images to tell a story. The size of the photo [ 900 x 600px] makes such a difference – the images just wouldn’t hold up at some formerly adequate size like 300 x 200. 

How does this apply to selling a product? Check out Apple’s Macbook pro page – there’s no doubt about the quality of the product with this kind of detail [980 x 524 px].

Heard of jQuery yet?

It's a new way of working with javascript, and it's incredibly concise.

A free website tool called the 'eValuator' will show you what you didn't know about your website.
 
With the rapid pace of development in web technology, it is hard for companies to pinpoint key factors that comprise a successful website. Often times things look normal to viewers, yet businesses can see they are not getting the traffic and conversions they need from their websites. Knowing what website improvements result in higher ROIs can be difficult, which is why we have launched a website tool called the eValuator, as a guide.

The objective is to provide businesses with a resource to gauge the health and value of their website and to address the challenges that they face when trying to optimize their business presence online.
 
                                

The eValuator uses a scoring system to grade a website based on different indicators, such as:
- Google PageRank
- Alexa TrafficRank
- technical errors [e.g. clean URLs, nested tables]
- marketing components [e.g. meta information, press releases, XML sitemap]
- analytics
 
Each is weighted separately depending on its level of importance in comparison to the others. To help those who are not familiar with specific terms, each indicator includes a description of what it is, why it is important and ways to improve performance. It is best used as an educational tool, enabling marketing directors to have a better understanding of how to boost website traffic and increase sales.

To enter a website and receive a score, check out the eValuator.

There are many ways to view websites, Internet marketing and the different components that comprise the online marketing ‘cloud’. Over the years, I’ve come to see that what we do for clients i.e. design and develop websites, is comprised of 3 parts; branding, marketing and functionality. And for a website to function properly, all 3 parts not only need to be implemented effectively, but also need to integrate well together. This is no small task and is rarely done well.

Part 1 - Branding

Branding on the Internet is an amorphous term that contains many parts, such as: a logo, tag line, user interface [look + feel], messaging [headline copy], text, photos, graphics, video, illustrations, motion graphics, demos, information architecture, interactivity etc. All of which fall under the term the ‘User Experience’.

This constitutes what is said, to whom and why it is said. Without the right message, to the right people, websites fail to meet their most basic task – communicate effectively to the target audience.

Typically the branding/user experience suffers because it is under too much pressure to serve too many interests. The ‘more is more’ rationale typically wins out. The best interfaces often are the ones where the content comprises the majority of the page and the ‘look + feel’ is secondary, minimal and simplified.

Part 2 – Marketing

The marketing component of a website is even more amorphous than branding, since it’s evolving and expanding into something very different than what marketing was originally conceived to be. So new terms have arisen such as ‘demand generation’, ‘inbound marketing systems’, ‘viral marketing’ and ‘search marketing’ as well as many new terms such as SEO, SEM, black hat techniques, landing pages, doorway pages, sales funnels, link farms, favicons, bounce rates, keyword density, link rot, CPA, CPC, PPC, meta tag generator, Twitter, Flikr, digg, del.icio.us and the list goes on and on.

Nonetheless, the most common types of Internet marketing programs are: e-mail marketing, search marketing, pay-per-click advertising and analytics/measurement.

Regardless of the shifting sands of online marketing terminology and processes, websites suffer if at least some of these programs are not effectively used. They suffer in many ways, mostly from reduced traffic and decreased visibility on the Internet.Read more

Planning is Everything (and Ongoing)
Setting out to build a truly great web site is a noble goal, but is a task doomed to mediocrity without a thoughtfully composed project plan. Whether you are building your site in house or are working with a design firm, insist on using a plan which allocates the following:

• Project personal + responsibilities, both internal and external
• Design + Development milestones
• Deliverables, clearly defined

Each of the above requires an estimate to be reached collaboratively with the project members responsible. Talented web workers can only compensate for so much pressure to finish tasks in a timeframe they did not create.

Progress Checks: Fruitful or Fruitless?
Today’s businesses are focused on reducing bureaucracy and excess managerial overhead, but the value of a project leader who keeps the burn rate under control is priceless. Frequently keeping a current view of what has been done and what needs to be done as hourly figures is crucial if your goal is uncompromising quality.

Getting Stuck
Nothing will blow a budget faster than pushing off stakeholder approval or a lax schedule. Once a web site is underway, any administrative or communication delays are inefficient and will eat the time needed for the team to do their best work. Keeping everyone moving with frequent reminders is a great way to maintain momentum on a web project.

The Last Mile
More often than not, the last mile of a web project requires the most effort. Carefully tracking even small changes (and increasing your budget accordingly) will preserve your time for the oh so important testing, review and bug fixes which accumulate at the end of every project. Details define a great site and a well tended plan will give your team a solid foundation to get them right.

Fletcher is a project manager at Bartlett Communications and has been creating web sites for the last 8 years. Learn more about how we can deliver a killer web presence for your organization.

Questions to ask before choosing an e-commerce platform.

Buying software from small businesses is often a roll of the dice. One of the added problems of evaluating e-commerce software is it's difficult to get honest, 'real' reviews. Much of the information online is biased commentary, disguised as genuine. The only way to really know is to actually use the programs or delve deep into forums for specific comparisons.
Here are a few questions to ask before making a commitment:

What version is the software? If it's v1.3 then avoid it at all costs. The higher the version the better.

How large is the software company? There is much more chance that software from Adobe will be around in 5 years than a 5 person software company's will be. If you commit to an e-commerce platform and the company goes away, so does most of your investment.

Open source or commercial software? Buying open source ensures you have access to the code but also means you will be relying on a web developer for maintenance and upgrades. Since e-commerce software is changing rapidly, choosing open source can be a more costly choice.

What marketing features does the software have? Using a platform such as ProStores, owned by eBay, has the added advantage of being pre-integrated with one of the largest online shopping networks around. Leveraging other marketing programs such as SEO and e-mail integration are critical to the success of an online store.

Can any user interface design be used? Often e-commerce software restricts the 'look + feel' of a website design. Check to see how restrictive the template system is or if you can develop your own template.

For a more comprehensive list of questions to ask before purchasing e-commerce software, see our 'E-commerce Project Profile: Questions that help define the strategic goals and scope of an e-commerce project'.