Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [175]
Apple Apple has one of the best in user experiences in the business. Figure 15-7 shows an error page from Apple.com.
Figure 15-7: Apple’s 404 error page. Simple, no 404 code, no blame, and lots of navigational assistance
A List Apart This is a technical site with a nontechnical error page, with one of the friendliest explanations (Figure 15-8).
Figure 15-8: A List Apart presents a humorous look at the error page, especially since the website focuses on best practices.
Etsy This site presents a page that’s friendly and kitschy. There is very little to distract the visitor, but it is effective (Figure 15-9).
Figure 15-9: Etsy fits the error page to their audience, which is crafters and those who purchase unique, handmade items.
Mozilla This site has a message with impressive friendliness and clarity, especially for a primarily tech-based site (Figure 15-10).
Figure 15-10: Mozilla.com provides a substantial number of links to the primary information areas but a clear focus on the three primary areas of content.
Volkswagen This site offers a friendly message, no blame, and plenty of information links to get back into the site (Figure 15-11).
Figure 15-11: VW.com presents a slightly offbeat page, especially for a large company, but does not lack in providing links and helpful message.
The Wall Street Journal This site is very straightforward but informative; it relies on providing links back into the content (Figure 15-12).
Figure 15-12: WSJ.com presents links to the major parts of the day’s news, navigation to all of the properties and news areas, and a link to report any problems.
Center’d This site offers a cute and cuddly approach that is perfect for a social-media site (Figure 15-13).
Figure 15-13: Center’d goes for the cute and cuddly version of an error page. Maybe the visitor will stay because of the cuteness factor?
37signals This showcases usability and aggressive error-solving techniques. Note that although a mistyped URL is listed as one possible reason for the error, the phrasing is not accusatory (Figure 15-14).
Figure 15-14: 37signals troubleshoots the error along with the visitor.
Wednesday: Test Your Site Search
Site search is the search function that is provided to visitors to your website. This is your internal search engine to the content within your website. Strangely, this is an afterthought to many businesses, but it is a critical part of the user experience. A recent study showed that three out of four searchers in ecommerce tend to use the site search to quickly find a product or category of product in a website. Unfortunately, most companies are unaware of how the site search helps or hinders their visitors.
The worst things that your internal site search can do are show too many results, too few results, no results, or irrelevant results. Unfortunately, too many internal site search engines have been developed internally with a goal of producing results—not presentable, usable, and relevant results.
Track
The first step in making your internal site search a productive part of your website marketing strategy is to track the searches that are made. Compare the list of keywords to the information on your website. Is there a reason people are using your site search instead of the navigation? This may expose some information architecture issues if there is a consistent theme to the words being searched and the content arrangement on the page. You can set up most analytics programs to track this action and the words that are being searched. Be sure to track the end result of the search and whether it ends in a sale, lead, or exit.
Evaluate
Once you start seeing search terms as they are being recorded, go to your site search, and type in the terms your visitors are typing in. Now you can see the results that your visitors are seeing. Answer the following questions:
Are there results?
Are the results relevant?
Are there too many redundant results?
Is the display of results understandable?
Is it clear where to click?
Is it clear