Site direction

From NewHaven Software Wiki

Thoughts and ideas for the direction of our new site.

Please Read: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html

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Contents 1 Goals for Site 2 Examples: 2.1 Order Motion 2.2 Dydacomp 2.3 Natural Solutions 2.4 In Order 2.5 Response 2.6 Schedulicity

Goals for Site

1. Primary and Secondary Goals. First goal should be to promote our software to new customers, second goal should be to promote our services to existing customers.
2. Who is our target audience? I think this should be small-medium sized bussinesses. What this means to me is that we need a simple layout broken into a standard format. We do not want a prospect to have to fish around for information and eventually leave. Avoid information overload. Our seconary audience needs to be able to find support, hours, contact info, update, etc. in an easy to use and reliable fashion.
3. Features and Must Haves. We must have clear examples of how NewHaven has created synergystic relationships with our customers; white papers, case studies, links to customer sites, etc. We must have a clear and easy to use support section with ready access to our forums, wiki, downloads, and other support related content.

Examples:

Order Motion

Site: http://ordermotion.com/

Pros: Order Motion has a clean site with easy to use navigation. It's very professional looking and does not suffer from an information overload. I would feel comfortable that I am looking at a well developend and professional product. Nice promintent links to Case Studies and Services.

Cons: Lacks any personal touch. Very sterile looking. Lack of screenhots and product features.

Dydacomp

Site:http://www.dydacomp.com/

Pros: Professional looking and clean site. Well organized and full of information. Great list of features ( http://www.dydacomp.com/mom-features.asp ) Good list of Cast Studies (http://www.dydacomp.com/case-studies.asp) and Testimonials ( http://www.dydacomp.com/case-studies.asp ). Lots of links to additional information without cluttering home page and navigation. Nice use of videos.

Cons: Very few. Not a fan of the color scheme, but overall a very informative site.

Natural Solutions

Site: http://www.naturalsol.com/

Pros: Clean site. Easy to use navigation that allows you to quickly learn about the product. Nice list of Alliances (http://www.naturalsol.com/Alliances.aspx ).

Cons: Not a very warm site. Looks a little small and impersonal.

In Order

Site: http://www.morsedata.com/

Pros: Clean layout with great navigation. Great Case Studies ( http://www.morsedata.com/case_studies.html ). Awesome breakdown of products ( http://www.morsedata.com/customer_response_mgmt.html ) with a nice header linking you to additional information about various components. I would feel very comfortable that this is a quality product from a reputable company.

Cons: Case Studies should be in HTML and PDF for SEO. Lack of any noticable online support. No videos or product images.

Response

Site: http://www.colinear.com/

Pros: Lot's of information about the product. Good use of Strategic Partners ( http://www.colinear.com/strategicpartners.htm ). Pages load fast.

Cons: OVERLOAD! Some of the lnks are PDFs and you are not warned. Inconsitent page layout and alignment. Non-Standard layout is confusing. Very FrontPage feeling. Seems like it may be a little too much info without and spunk. I would be concerned that this company does not take it's web presence seriously and may be struggling.

Schedulicity

Site: http://www.schedulicity.com/info/default.aspx

Pros Good variable width layout with the majority of the content centered. The Pricing, FAQs, and Success Stories are prominent. Clean with easy navigation.

Cons Most of the links are below the fold and there is no indication of this.