Enhance Your Website

Many accounting firms spend a significant amount of time and resources creating, designing and implementing a new website. Hours and hours are spent pouring over the content to ensure the initial release is perfect. Then the day comes when it is launched. Partners, Managers and others are excited and love clicking the links to see how every page looks. Then the dust settles and everyone goes back to their “daily lives”. What happens to the website? If your firm is like most I have worked in the website is pushed to the back burner and only updated on occassion when an error or issue is identified.

In the article, To Succeed Websites Require Feedback, Gerry McGovern outlines how feedback on a website can help improve usability and increase attraction to users. “You’re a manager in a restaurant. It’s raining. A customer walks in and almost slips on the mat in front of the door. You’re very busy at this stage, but you make a mental note: “I must change that mat.” About 15 minutes later another customer comes in. She, too, almost slips on the mat. You rush up to her, apologize profusely and then change the mat. People are slipping on our websites right now but, because we don’t see them slip, we don’t change the mat. I’m one of the biggest offenders. Over the years I have left content and applications on my websites that had problems that I was vaguely aware of, but they didn’t seem important enough to warrant any action. Even when I became clearly aware of the issue I didn’t react with enough urgency.”

I really like this metaphor because it highlights what can happen on a firm’s website.  Most do not have a feedback mechanism on their site where visitors can interact with the firm. This is essential as is other forms of soliciting feedback from internal and external shareholders and stakeholders.

As you contemplate your site design, I encourage you to read this article to get more information.