Happy Mothers Day to all of the property management mothers out there! I hope you have a grand day.
My friend Jennifer Laycock, Editor of Search Engine Guide, an educational web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand, has a thought provoking post about web sites, Showing All The Right People All The Wrong Things.
The premise is this, Have you clearly defined want you want your prospects to do once they visit your web site? ASK MOM, IF SHE CAN’T NAVIGATE IT, NEITHER CAN YOUR PROSPECT When is the last time YOU visited you own web site?
THE MOM TEST
I thought that Jennifer’s advice was great and an absolute excellent recommendation;
“In the world of small business where staffs are small and budgets are tight, shelling out for a usability analysis isn’t always (ok, is almost never) feasible. Heck, many small businesses are already digging spare change from the couch in the lounge just to pay their hosting bills. That’s why it’s important to remember the single most cost-effective usability tool you have in situations like this: your mother.Don’t have a mother? That’s fine, get the mother of one of your employees. Get the mother of your SEO (but not mine, she’s so web savvy she runs backlink checks), or the mother of your accountant. Any mom will do, though it’s best if she’s over the age of 50.
Then sit her down at your site and ask her to do whatever it is you want someone to do. That might be sign up for a newsletter, it might be purchase a product or it might be download a white paper. Just start her off on the site with no instructions other than “do this.” Then watch.
If she can’t quickly and easily find her way to what it is you want her to do, chances are good you’ve got some usability problems. If you’re standing behind her wanting to yell “it’s right THERE!!!” while she leans forward and stares at the screen, you’ve definitely got usability problems”
Thanks Jennifer for some great and practical advise, that will certainly help some of our multifamily apartment friends!
Eric Brown
Eric’s background is rooted in the rental and real estate industries. He founded metro Detroit’s Urbane Apartments in 2003, after serving as senior vice president for a major Midwest apartment developer. He established a proven track record of effectively repositioning existing rental properties in a way that added value for investors while enhancing the resident experience. He also established Urbane Media, a social media marketing and PR laboratory, where innovative marketing ideas are tested. Eric has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and Business Week Magazine. You can connect with Urbane_Media on Twitter. Eric also writes regular articles for the following publications; Multi Housing News Social Media Examiner Search Engine Guide
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