Proven ROI from Website Usability Study

London 8th September; Sigmer Technologies, providers of bespoke software solutions and extensive website expertise, today announced the launch of their new website which has already achieved ROI, largely due to incorporating a usability study during the redevelopment of the site. Sigmer’s new website showcases the business benefits of usability and information architecture as an integral part of the web development process. The new site supports W3C Accessibility Priority Level 3, the highest level. Sigmer developed the site utilising its experience in designing highly accessible websites for clients such as The International Save the Children Alliance.

“Due to the high level of accessibility (which also makes it far easier for the search engines to find and digest each site page) and the optimisation of content, its pages have already been indexed and ranked by Google and other major search engines.” said Rosie Freshwater, Director of Leapfrogg Internet Marketing, search engine marketing specialists. “Sigmer’s new site has gained immediate high rankings for relevant terms which have already driven increased amounts of qualified traffic to the site. The successful search engine optimisation (SEO) of the site, attributable to Sigmer’s expertise in usability, design and accessibility, demonstrates an obvious core business benefit for any customer outsourcing to Sigmer for website design and development and content management.”

User profiling was paramount to Sigmer’s development of the new site. In the initial stages, Sigmer identified the core users of their site and then created detailed user profiles for them. The information gathered from these user profiles was then used to inform the development of the information architecture, design and functionality of the website. The four user types that Sigmer identified were: a senior level marketer, a technical director/manager, a managing director, and a journalist. Detailed use profiles were then created, which included each user being assigned a name, a company, a purpose for visiting the site, specific tasks to achieve, and personality traits that would influence their interaction with the website. All decisions were made from the perspective of the appropriate user profile, thus ensuring that the website’s information content and structure is geared solely toward helping users to fulfil their tasks.

Information architecture was a key factor in the development process. By assessing the different user requirements, Sigmer was able to group information by relevance to a user’s specific needs, and to then decide which pages to optimise.
This grouping of information by relevance ensures that the site is “sticky”, with users landing on a page, sticking there because it is relevant to their needs, and then going on to browse the website through related links and click-throughs. Sigmer’s design and development team continuously assumed the user profile identities throughout the design process,
so that at each step in the process information was grouped where it would be consistently relevant to the users.

For example, a technical manager might be looking for information on website content management and will land on a page with relevant information on this topic, with clearly labelled related links and click-throughs to further pages containing detailed technical information.





A marketing manager however, also searching for website content management information, will land on the same page but will be offered the option of following other clearly labelled related links and click-throughs that are relevant to their interests. Both users’ tasks are fulfilled and each are led to pages containing information related to their needs.

The good quality leads that Sigmer has received within just two weeks prove that Sigmer has already received a ROI. “Usability research has found that just a little investment in usability can show a big ROI. Typically, a benefit-to-cost ration of between 30 to 50 should be expected.” said Nigel Gill, Account Director of Sigmer Technologies. “Of the multiple enquiries received so far, several came from major organisations that are leaders in their fields and were made by people who perfectly fit the user profiles Sigmer created at the initial stage, for example, senior managers and technical engineers. This demonstrates how important it is for companies that claim to be customer focused to invest in usability and recognise its undoubted ROI.”

The new website is managed with Scribe, Sigmer’s own content management system. Scribe enables Sigmer to manage all areas of the site including those that search engines pay attention to, such as visible page content, linking between pages, meta tags and title tags. As well as the benefits that Scribe brings to the SEO capabilities, it also supports the attainment of accessibility Priority Level 3 would not be to the detriment of the site’s design quality.


About Sigmer Technologies
Sigmer Technologies was founded in 1999 and is based at the University of Sussex. The company’s carefully balanced team of specialist programmers, designers and consultants has attracted a number of high profile clients, including: British Sky Broadcasting; The International Save the Children Alliance; Memorex; Leapfrogg Internet Marketing; and South East England Development Agency. By combining traditional computer technology with advanced cutting edge innovation, Sigmer provides a full range of programming, web design and Internet and IT based services individually tailored to meet clients’ needs. More information about the company can be found at www.sigmer.com.