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4. Accommodate all users.
The average age of people filling prescriptions on Medco.com is 54, and 20 percent of those individuals are over the age of 65, says Tom Feitel, chief Web officer at Medco Health Solutions, a pharmacy benefits management company in New Jersey, U.S.
To empower people with vision problems or other disabilities, Medco designed an accessible Web site. For example, it eliminated drop-down menus, which can be challenging for those whose hands shake. It expanded the size of certain images and changed the color palette and font sizes to make the site easier to navigate and read.
Web administrators should also make sure that their sites can be used on computers of varying capabilities and with a range of connection speeds, says Terry Golesworthy, president of The Customer Respect Group Inc., an Ipswich, Mass.-based research and consulting firm that focuses on how corporations treat their online customers.
5. Be responsive.
Coldwell Banker developed a program called Lead Router to ensure that its real estate agents don't miss any potential leads generated online, says Charlie Young, senior vice president of marketing. The tool converts online inquiries into text messages that are sent to agents' cell phones within 10 seconds. "Not only are we able to answer virtually all of our leads," Young says, "but most of them get answered in eight hours or less."
The companies with the best Web sites don't restrict contact with their online users to the Internet, Golesworthy says. They post their brick-and-mortar contact information as well as e-mail addresses. They have formal systems for handling incoming messages, thus guaranteeing customers a response, and the top sites also have instant, online chat features.
6. Show up the Joneses
Too many Web managers base success on internal measurements, such as how many hits they get on their sites. Instead, measure your site against those in your peer group and top sites from companies in other sectors. "Your customers' responses to your Web site are based on where they've been," Golesworthy says.
7. Build trust.
Most consumers no longer fear doing business online, but they still need to be convinced about security. "That's a biggie, particularly in the consumer sites," Golesworthy says. "People have read about identify theft, privacy issues and spam."
The best sites clearly explain their security, privacy and marketing policies right upfront.
8. Assign ownership, but work as a team.
"You have to think of the Web site as being the primary way people find out about your company. And if that's how you think about it, why should it be handled by the tech people?" Golesworthy says.
Two years ago, Esteban Borrero, vice president of solutions delivery at McKesson Corp., a health care services and IT company in San Francisco, passed responsibility for the Web site over to corporate communications. "For me, it was clear that communications does a much better job at that," he says, noting that they're the experts in reaching the doctors, pharmacists, vendors and consumers who use the site. But Borrero maintains a collaborative relationship between IT and corporate communications.
9. Set priorities.One of the biggest challenges facing Web site administrators today is the volume of requests they receive for changes to their sites. "You can get requests from anybody and everybody," Galasso says.
So don't blindly gear up for every change request. Instead, ask: What is the purpose of this? Is this what consumers want? How does it rank with my other requests? Better still, develop a process. At My1Stop, stakeholders from sales, marketing, IT and other departments meet weekly to prioritize Web projects, says Gina Sullivan, director of software development.
10. Watch for the next big thing.
A great Web site is never static. But identifying the next big thing -- and determining whether it's the right tool for your users -- requires an investment. Coldwell Banker is developing a plan to pair several staffers with the company's development partners to generate ideas for future implementation. Time-to-market for online tools now ranges from three to 18 months, Young says, and he hopes to cut that by 25 percent to 50 percent.
"There are always ways to improve the Web site," Galasso says. "People are finding new and better ways to use it. So we have to make sure we're always where the consumer is -- or ahead of them."
