Some websites as viewed by the passerby
Paraphrased from a handful of recent conversations.
They: We’re thinking we could hire that person that “builds websites”. Have you seen that website they built?
We: Yes.
They: I took a look at it once upon a time and thought it looked very nice.
We: Interesting. How were you using it? What were you looking for or trying to do?
They: I don’t know. I just went there to “check it out”. It looked well done. They do good work.
We: I see. It sounds like you checked out the home page, it loaded and looked nice.
They: It was colorful, it had a calendar, it looked very nice.
We: Tell you what. Try using it for it’s intended purpose. Look for the information you need. Try doing the thing you assume they’d like their visitors to do. Go to “contact us” and contact them.
You’re looking for the marketing manager not the webmaster. Ask them if the site is performing as they need it to? You’ll find that most are happy to talk with you and provide you some feedback if you’re brief and polite. Be alert if they seem not to really know how it’s performing qualitatively though. You’re looking for more than… We like it. It looks great dont’cha think? We get lots of complements.
Some websites as viewed by the user
If the website owner seems not well informed their web initiatives are likely not a priority or it’s possible they’re just not aware they have a very nicely painted facade. You be the judge. Is the website information current, easy to locate and consume? Are the tasks it would seem they’d want visitors to perform easy to execute OR… is it just nice pictures. Can you find them in Google for terms other then their name?
How a website LOOKS from a casual drive-by and how it actually PERFORMS for both the user and the website owner can be two vastly different things. It’s pretty easy to “build a website” and put up a gee-whiz graphic presentation. Your website though should have a purpose. Is it simply to impress the casual drive-by visitor or is it to serve a purpose for your audience and for the one that signs the checks.
Of course these are just quicker-n-easier, do-it-yourself suggestions for the layman on how to review and evaluate websites. Indeed there are additional checks you can perform yourself. For those serious enough to invest some time for more factual, data informed analysis of performance there is a host of tools and methodologies used by professionals.
If your internet marketing aspirations extend only as far as a casual, we need to “get a website up”. You’ll likely end up with an equally casual, “There it is. It’s up” website.
You: You’re investing too much time and energy into your web presence for gee-whiz! You need a return on your investment.
Us: We’d like to help you with getting measurable results. Contact us.
btw… we are aware of some irony in this. 
Yes, this our own website needs some love. Frankly all our time and focus has been on client work and we’ve been hard pressed to update and build out our own website. In time. Shoemaker’s children, yes? We would welcome the opportunity to provide references for any of our client work. We’re fortunate to have some wonderful clients. Contact us.
