WEB CONTENT ANALYSIS FOR NAME OF CLIENT COMPANY Submitted by Keter Professional Services Two competitors’ sites were submitted as examples: Example Site #1 – Sensis Example Site #2 – Alion/MA&D The Sensis site is mature and perhaps slightly obsolete in form. It is the site of a long-established company with a very large product line and a formal business style. The Alion/MA&D site is somewhat “boutique” as it is very specifically targeting a niche market and is intended to be comfortable to that niche, but lacks the polish of the Sensis site. Otherwise, these sites had more in common than different.
MAIN LANDING PAGE Both sites have a very spare main landing page. Sensis’ landing page wastes valuable screen space with a large graphic without any real informational purpose, and in fact their landing page lacks any content. This is a mistake. Alion/MA&D’s landing page has visible structural flaws and is not very pretty, but its spare content gives new visitors enough information about the company that they can quickly determine whether they have come to the right place. Recommendation for Client Company: Copy Alion/MA&D’s landing page (about 100 word), but make it look better.
ABOUT US PAGE On Sensis’ site, About Us is first in the left hand navigation links; on Alion/MA&D’s site, About Us is second after News. This is a good approach only if you have a LOT of news, or very exciting news with deep potential business impact, so that you want your visitors to see this first as they are forming their initial impression of you. Sensis divides the About Us category into five separate pages (Corporate Overview, Purpose & Core Values, Community, Executive Team, Board of Directors) , and has no main About Us page. “Community” is about the cities in which Sensis has offices; it does not really belong in About Us, the community descriptions would be better moved to the Careers section, leaving only a map as it is on the Alion/MA&D site. The driving directions are a bit of overkill and would better be accomplished by a Google map for everything other than site-specifics like parking arrangements.
The MA&D site has a main About Us page, with links to descriptions of each of its four main business areas (it lists five on the Services page, and 7 in the left navigation, so this is an error), and three subpages: Client List, Boulder Map, Testimonials. Other than the omission of a Map page for their other location in Orlando and want of just a little bit of interactivity in the map (an embedded Google map would do the trick), this is quite adequate for these categories, but notably absent is anything about the company’s leadership or clientele. This is a mistake. Recommendation for Client Company:
Merge the content approaches used by Alion/MA&D’s About Us page (about 200 words) and Sensis Corporate Overview page (about 270 words), link to your solutions pages, and optionally link to related PDF collateral you may have. Add a Purpose & Core Values page (about 150 words) and an Executive Team page (about 100-150 words per profile). Unless your BoD is a major selling point, I think that is safe to omit. If you have a Client List (about 150 words regarding client relationships preceding the list) and/or Testimonials (pick 4-5 of your best), add those pages, or merge them if they are thin. Add a Map page (perhaps rename it “Find Us”) and put your main office contact information and any special instructions (parking, building entry, etc.) on that page (0-100 words). Optionally, add a list of Ongoing Projects.
SOLUTIONS / SERVICES PAGE On Sensis’ navigation, Solutions is the second item, ahead of Products. On Alion/MA&D’s navigation, Services is fourth, behind Products. Both sites lose major points on the organization of their products and services. Sensis’ site lacks a main page for Solutions; instead it uses a menu to select from its business areas. Then each of those pages link to the products. More mature areas are cluttered. Alion/MA&D’s main Services page is at least present, even though it omits two business areas that appear in the left navigation. Recommendation for Client Company:
Use a Solutions main page similar to Alion/MA&D’s Services page but perhaps include a high level description (50-60 words) for each business area (Solution), and link to each dedicated Solution page. Each Solution page will have a description (about 250-1100 words) of solution types and links to the associated product pages.
PRODUCT PAGE Sensis does not have a main Product page, again it uses a menu to direct traffic by “Products by Name” (just a list of links) and “Products by Solution,” also just a list of links. The latter is repetitious of the Solutions section and should be omitted. Alion/MA&D has a main Product Page which lists products by three categories (Simulation Products, Training Products, and Other Products) that are not the same as its business areas. This may or may not be OK; I don’t know enough about their niche to know if this makes sense. Each description is 25-100 words, which in their case makes for
a page that is too long. Alion/MA&D has a spotlight product, Micro Saint Sharp, which receives its own main navigation element. Recommendation for Client Company:
Create a main Product page that sorts products according to Solution categories. Write an expanded (250 word) introduction to each Solution type. List products under each solution type, perhaps with a very brief (10-20 word) description and a hyperlink to individual product pages. Individual product pages can be as detailed as needed and should include links to related PDFs, articles, etc.
CUSTOMER SERVICE Sensis had a rather nice Customer Service section with a Quality policy. MA&AD lacks this section. Recommended for Client Company: Whether this section is appropriate for Client Company depends on the nature of your products and the processes by which support is rendered. It cannot hurt to have this section if there is value (a procedure to follow, a policy for support, submit support tickets, etc.). If it is just contact information, leave it out unless the list of potential contacts is extensive.
MEDIA CENTER Sensis has an extensive Media Center, consisting of Press Releases, News Coverage, White Papers, and Events & Speaking Engagements. Alion/MA&D lacks this section. Recommended for Client Company: Whether this section is appropriate for Client Company depends on how you want to handle media outreach and whether you have materials adapted for this use. If you do, use it. If it will be very sparsely populated, you can make the media center a subpage under About Us.
CAREERS Sensis has a well-developed Careers section with links to an ASP employment service, information on company culture and location, policies and benefits. Alion/MA&D has just a bare-bones Employment contact page. Recommended for Client Company: Which direction you go really depends on your employment strategy. You could do well by copying Sensis, but that could be overkill if you only want to recruit selectively and slowly, in which case a simpler page is in order. Alion/MA&D's page is just rerouting candidates to its new parent company, so it should at least be friendlier.
INVESTOR RELATIONS Sensis has a well-developed Investor Relations section. Alion/MA&D has no corresponding section. Recommended for Client Company: Whether this page is appropriate for Client Company depends on its investor relations needs and whether it is actively seeking funding. Sensis is not a good model for a company seeking capital investment; it is a model for a company with an established investor base.
CONTACT US Sensis has a well-organized Contact Us page and Alion/MA&D has a simpler Contact Us page that combines Customer Service contact information with general contact information.
OPTIONS
Site Map – Easy to implement once site is properly outlined. Search – Probably not necessary if site is well organized. This is a web developer task. Tiered Site Access – Needed if registration is required to grant access to proprietary information.
CLIENT COMPANY’S BUSINESS AREAS Based on the test site at Client Company’s web site
Software Engineering Modeling and Simulation Human Factors User Interface Design System Design User Centered Design Information Architecture Software Architecture Model Driven Development Fast Time Discrete Event Simulation
Number of products unknown at this writing.
OVERVIEW OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED Writing services for all pages containing written content (as opposed to links and features like search). Exact hours will depend on the number of pages required, but will take a minimum of two weeks to complete (40-60 hours, allowing time to receive materials and edits), assuming that there are existing product and service descriptions that can be leveraged. Some I may be able to leverage from analogous offerings on the sample sites. It should be possible for you to work from this outline to anticipate the information I will need to receive in order to write the pages.
EXAMPLE SITE #1 – SENSIS http://www.sensis.com/
HOME PAGE Sidebar Links to Main Pages:
Media Center o Press Releases o News Coverage o White Papers o Events & Speaking Engagements Careers o Careers @ Sensis o Life & Leisure Employee Testimonials o We Care Investor Relations o Overview o Options o Contact
Tabs:
About Us o Corporate Overview o Purpose & Core Values o Community o Executive Team o Board of Directors Solutions o Example Solution Page Products o Products by Name Example Product Page o Products by Solution Customer Service o Quality Policy o For Customer Support
Register for Expanded Site Search Contact Us Site Map What’s New (not a real tab, just a header for the linked press releases, etc.)
Footer Links: Privacy Policy & Terms of Use Employee Information Customer Login RSS Home (should not appear on the home page)
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MAIN PAGES ABOUT US CORPORATE OVERVIEW About 270 words. Includes links to the following PDFs:
Sensis Fact Sheet Sensis Ethics Policy Sensis Harassment Policy Sensis ISO-Certified (s/b ISO-Certification)
The PDF content is beyond the scope of this analysis.
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PURPOSE & CORE VALUES About 150 words.
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COMMUNITY
Description of the headquarters city, Syracuse, NY. Includes links to similar pages for Washington, DC, and Campbell, CA. Details include:
Weather The Great Outdoors Cultural Activities Sports Shopping District Festivals Educate (s/b Education) – includes a link to a contest sponsored by the company Weekend Warrior (weekend destinations) (s/b Tourism or Destinations)
Each of these sections is populated with links to various attractions. Each city description is about 500-800 words.
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EXECUTIVE TEAM Biographies of executive team members. Each biography is about 100-150 words.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Short biographies of the members of the Board of Directors. Each description is about 30-60 words.
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SOLUTIONS This main page menu links directly to solution pages (example directly below).
EXAMPLE SOLUTION-TYPE PAGE (AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL) List of product segments. Each segment has a short description of about 80-100 words, followed by links to individual product pages and demonstration files.
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PRODUCTS This main page menu allows users to choose products by name (immediately below) or by solution type.
PRODUCTS BY NAME List of links to individual product pages. No written content.
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EXAMPLE PRODUCT PAGE (ADVANCED – SURFACE MOVEMENT GUIDANCE AND CONTROL SYSTEM (A-SMGCS))
About 150-600 words per product description, followed by links to related information:
Press Releases Brochures Case Studies Demonstration Files
The linked material is outside of the scope of this analysis.
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PRODUCTS BY SOLUTION Links to individual solution pages grouped by type of solution.
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CUSTOMER SERVICE QUALITY POLICY About 30 words. Hyperlinked PDF is about 100 words. It should open in a new window, but does not.
^TOP FOR CUSTOMER SUPPORT (S/B CONTACT) About 130 words. Link: AT&T USADirect Access Number – goes to AT&T page
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MEDIA CENTER PRESS RELEASES List of Press Releases. No written content here. Each press release contains written content, but is beyond the scope of this analysis.
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NEWS COVERAGE List of Coverage in the News Each blurb is 50-400 words.
^TOP WHITE PAPERS 30 words. No actual whitepapers are on the public-facing pages (they may be in the expanded version).
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EVENTS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS Details of speaking engagements. Each description is about 100 words.
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CAREERS CAREERS @ SENSIS About 200 words. Links: click here – Purpose and Core Values page on Sensis site “How to Apply Guidelines” – goes offsite to an application ASP provider, Webhire.com Job Alert – goes offsite to an application ASP provider, Webhire.com
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LIFE & LEISURE
About 700 words. Link to: Employee Testimonials.
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EMPLOYEE TESTIMONIALS Video only. No written content.
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WE CARE
About 750 words.
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INVESTOR RELATIONS OVERVIEW About 65 words. Includes login form below (not counted here).
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OPTIONS About 150 words. Same login screen as above.
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CONTACT Contact information only, no separately written content.
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TABS REGISTER FOR EXPANDED SITE
Form only. No actual content.
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SEARCH Search box only. No actual content.
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CONTACT US Addresses and Email links.
Directions links go to individual sub-pages with very detailed written directions. East Syracuse – about 500 words Campbell – about 450 words Hampton – about 250 words Reston – about 350 words Washington DC – about 250 words
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SITE MAP
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FOOTER LINKS PRIVACY POLICY & TERMS OF USE About 400 words.
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EMPLOYEE INFORMATION
No exposed content.
^TOP CUSTOMER LOGIN About 150 words that need to be in legalese.
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RSS No actual content.
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EXAMPLE SITE #2 – ALION/MA&D http://www.maad.com
HOME PAGE Sidebar Links to Main Pages:
Home (inactive) What’s New About Us o Client List o Boulder Map o Testimonials Products o Sample Product Page o Product Pg +Subpages Services Micro Saint Sharp Government Services Employment Ongoing Projects Contact Us
Linked from the body of the home page:
Consulting services (services)
Software products (products) Human-systems integration Human factors engineering Simulation and modeling Custom software design Link to parent company
Links in the footer repeat the links in the sidebar. This is not particularly good practice. Also on the home page is a login/registration widget. Home page is about 100 words.
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MAIN PAGES WHAT’S NEW Appears to be the most recent press release. About 310 words.
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ABOUT US Short description of the company. About 200 words. Repeats the same 4 body links as on the main page, and gives an email contact. Three sub-pages appear in the sidebar:
Client List Boulder Map Testimonials
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CLIENT LIST List of clients. Introduction is about 150 words.
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BOULDER MAP Map only. No written content.
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TESTIMONIALS Set of customer quotes. About. 200 words.
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PRODUCTS List of products with description and links to individual project pages in the body of the page. Links to individual product pages appear in the sidebar. Each item of description is about 25-100 words.
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SAMPLE PRODUCT PAGE
Each product description is about 350- 900 words and has a link to an info email address. Some have links to demonstration videos, PDF reports, and product brochures. The above collateral is beyond the scope of this analysis. A couple of product pages have sub-pages.
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SERVICES About 125 words.
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SAMPLE SERVICES PAGE About 250-1100 words.
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MICRO SAINT SHARP Extensive section on spotlight product. Well done, could be a good model for a similar scale product.
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GOVERNMENT SERVICES Should be combined in Services group.
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EMPLOYMENT Inadequate.
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ONGOING PROJECTS This section may or may not be applicable to Client Company. It is interesting, however, and could go under About Us if not too extensive.
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CONTACT US Combines Customer Service with general contacts. Could be a good model if Support options are of similar scale.