How to Improve Your Web Site Design, Sales and Search Engine Performance plus Beef Up Overall Usability – On A Small Business Budget
January 07, 2005 (PRLEAP.COM) Technology News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Philadelphia, PA – It's a New Year and your holiday web site traffic and sales made you proud. Or did they? Or perhaps your new site looked pretty when it was delivered, but what's this? No sales? Can't find it in search engines? Not a single newsletter signup?
What went wrong? And, since you've already paid a bundle for your web site already, what else might you be forced to spend to make it work the way you expect it to?
Kim Krause Berg, native of Perkasie, a town nestled in the hills north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been devoted to helping online businesses from start-up to corporate since 1996. With a background in web design, and retired from the search engine marketing industry, her passion became web site usability. This is, simply, the practice of making a web site work well for the person who comes to use it.
"There's several phases a design goes through. There's the ‘make it to please me first' approach. Follow that with ‘make it show up in search engines' and ‘put up a newsletter to see if anyone is interested'. Somewhere along the line they get the idea that people are finding the site but not staying there. This is when concern starts. Suddenly, who is intended to actually use the web site becomes important, and guess what? This was supposed to be the first priority with the design, not the last,' Kim describes. As a usability consultant for UsabilityEffect.com, she's received many a distress email from a web site owner.
Most top web sites are designed by teams, bolstered by big budgets and experienced professionals from several industries, including copywriting, programming, search engine optimization and marketing. For the home and small business, chances are good the web site is a one-person show and money for design, advertising, search engine marketing and copywriting isn't available.
Kim adds, "By no means does this mean these people can't be competitive. Quite often I've seen they only need someone to show them the basics, a few tricks of the trade and point out problem areas. It's always amazing to hear back from my clients who make a few adjustments based on my suggestions, and how excited and grateful they are that someone cared to help them, without charging them an arm and a leg.'
UsabilityEffect.com is offering a "Budget Basic' web site usability evaluation for just $50. This is one third the normal fee for the proprietary test plan Kim has developed just for small and medium business web sites. She's targeting ecommerce. She's assisting the dedicated self-learner.
In fact, every third new customer will receive a free copy of her latest e-publication, How to Quench Your Web Site Visitors Thirst.
Every evaluation covers user interface and navigation elements, browser checks, bonus "Google Peek', and looks for advanced issues such as desirability, credibility, persuasiveness and authenticity. Why the expert eye for such a low price?
Kim continues, "My reputation has been established as someone who cares deeply for web site owners, especially those just starting out. Who can they trust? Where is the most reliable information? I run several web sites, a blog and founded Cre8asiteForums, all with the desire to be helpful and affordable. The UsabiltyEffect.com site has a free web site testing center for example. My colleagues offer free advice in the forums. As a columnist, I cover several industries. I make referrals. The most important thing for me is to be available to those who want the help.'
If you own a web site and your dreams and hopes for it, as well as your budget, have run dry, you owe it to yourself to get reliable answers from an admired expert.
The UsabilityEffect.com Budget Basic web site reviews can be ordered here (http://www.usabilityeffect.com/usertesting.html#budget), and are available on a first come, first serve basis.
For additional information:
UsabilityEffect.com (www.usabilityeffect.com)
About Kim Krause Berg, Usability Consultant (www.usabilityeffect.com/about.html)
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Kimberly Krause Berg
Owner, UsabilityEffect.com
Web: www.usabilityeffect.com
Owner, Cre8pc.com
Web: www.cre8pc.com
Founder: Cre8asiteForums.com
Web: www.cre8asiteforums.com
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