July 2006

Behind the Web Site: the True
Tendo Story

We just revamped our website, but did we practice what we preach during the overhaul? Find out.

By Christine Zender

By now you've noticed that something's different with our website. We rolled out a new site at the end of June, and after a couple days of code testing, image adjusting, and language finessing, we're ready to promote it to the world. Or at least, that part of the world currently on the Internet.

Though we update the site all the time, we go through a comprehensive overhaul every couple of years. For us, there are a couple good reasons to undertake this task. Besides the obvious reason of making sure that our site takes advantage of the latest Web technology in the way that it looks, reads, and functions, overhauling the site also affords us the golden opportunity to go through the same tasks and thought processes we ask our clients to. It's one thing to sit on the vendor's side of the table and help clients establish goals, decide on a visual tone, and work through internal messaging, but going through the experience ourselves gives us perspective—we're the patient and not the doctor—on what it actually takes to get a new site done.

Below are a few of the challenges we experienced—and overcame—on the way to our new site.

1. Goals, Goals, Goals

We repeat this mantra to clients all the time: Decide on the goals for your project before you begin. But nowhere is this more important than in creating a website. Decide up front what you want to accomplish. For example: Is the goal to drive customers and prospects directly to a contact point, or do you want to give them as much information about your company as possible before they contact you? Each of these goals spawns a different site.

We decided that we needed clients to know our capabilities and experience, but we wanted to give prospects and customers a quick way to contact us. This resulted in fewer and drastically shorter pages—90 percent finish above the fold—and the placement of Contact Us in both the global and footer navigation as well as in strategically placed sidebars.

2. Democracy or Dictatorship?

Who has the ultimate say: Will your site be created by building consensus among the team(s) or will the site be created using the vision of one person? This is a tricky question, as it steers right into internal politics, but it's best to get it settled before you begin.

We steered clear of the issue by establishing a project map with key sign-off points in the process. We established a policy that all key team members—including management—needed to sign off on the progress and next steps, or the project didn't move forward.

3. To Tech or Too Tech?

As Web browsers increase their compatibility with—and Web users increase their affection for—newer Web technologies such as Flash and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), website creators continue to push the tech envelope. Sites built entirely in Flash are becoming more and more common, and while Flash is an invaluable Web tool, we see sites that use it to show off their design prowess rather than to create a clear and unobstructed user experience.

At Tendo, our goal has always been to provide compelling content that is easy to explore and easy on the eyes. We'd like our site visitors to be able to find exactly what they're looking for rather than wondering, "What will happen when I click here?" So while we ditched old school table-based HTML code for a streamlined site built entirely in CSS, we did opt for a traditional navigation system with text links and colored rollovers. We used Flash where it added value, not download wait time. And, our modicum of Flash means our site gets more attention from search engine spiders, too.

4. You Are Your Own Worst Client

We see it all the time: Clients who are too close to their material, their products, their language, their branding—their whatever—to provide any real perspective about what needs to change. Sometimes the best way to counteract this "too close" syndrome is to bring in an outside perspective. The outside perspective can take the form of consultants, specialty agencies, or even other divisions/departments of your company.

We, too, fell into this trap. In the initial planning stages, we experienced a bit of paralysis because for every change we considered (in graphics, in words, in architecture), we came up with 10 historic reasons why it wouldn't work. To solve this problem, we took our own advice and hired some strategic help. We used folks who could bring in a different point of view and help us work through a few critical areas.

5. Follow Through

I'm not sure whether it's the relief of getting the project "finished" or the simple need to take a mental break, but many companies simply put up a site and forget about it. Our advice to clients? Successful sites need care and feeding to keep them successful. Monitor the site constantly, test to see what's working, and fix what doesn't.

So, here we are. We've done our own internal testing, we updated SEO terminology in the code and on the page, and our inquiries and feedback throughout the next few months will tell us how successful this new site has been. But we're always open to opinions, so check out our new site and email us to let us know what you think.

About the author:

Christine Zender is Tendo's VP of editorial.