A site has 7 seconds for whatever page the visitor lands on to make an impression. We call this the A.D.D. Factor. So, the fact that people are only willing to scan and skim information on a site makes the volumes of text on the MDA Consulting site defeat the purpose of having it there in the first place. We predict that each page is only getting the "whoa - way too much" click-in-and-click-out.
Every page on this site is an "About Us" page. "About Us" pages tell the visitor how great the company is with no supporting Facts, Tools, Help, Learning, and Resource to provide back-up. MDA's site is basically a resumé repository.
It takes 4 to 5 site visits for someone to purchase or contact a business from the web. "About Us" sites rarely prompt second visits.
There is not one way for the site to generate sales leads for the business. Interactive quizzes and surveys (the results of which should be emailed right to MDA as a hot lead) help a prospective client understand how and why they need MDA's services. Helpful and engaging articles, how-to's, online demos of their expertise, case studies, and testimonials are what bring repeat, referred, and extended visits - the stuff of which sales are made of. These are the resources that show and prove. "Sign up for eNews" is the fastest way for a small to medium enterprise to grow an online audience.
It's assumed by the visitor that MDA is in business because they believe they are good at what they do. No need for them to repeat it to the visitor over and over. If MDA is going to tout their greatness, they need supporting facts and figures to back it up. For example, they say on one of their many "About Us" pages: "We gather data and estimate market size." To light a fire under this phrase, they could add: "To see how we saved ABC Corp $3,000,000 with these very services, click here (to go to a supporting Case Study)."
Companies building websites often confuse Geek Speak and really big words with impressive, corporate, professionalism when, in fact, companies lose a lot of potential interest because the verbiage is over the user's head, or worse, causes the company to sound too expensive or out of the visitor's league. MDA could use simple, common sense explanations of how they affect a business's bottom line.
Aesthetically, this site didn't make us scream in horror. It looks clean but cheap. They used a part-time web designer whose day job is with an online magazine company. It looks like the site was built in about an hour by someone with absolutely no eye for design.
We weren't surprised to find that this is a woman-owned firm, When it comes to web technology, women are notorious for giving us the "talk to the hand". Yahoo Site Builder and Frontpage - two editors from which the mot heinous sites on the web are born - are typically favored by most of the female clients that come our way. However, the woman-owned companies we DO bring on board, because of their outstanding dedication to the success of their online efforts, are some of the highest performing sites we support.
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