Speeches

Fixing Your Web Site: From Web Pages That Suck to Web Pages That Work

Web designers, strategists and marketers must view their company Web site with the understanding that visitors are always one click away from leaving. If your site has too many problems or is too difficult to use, "Click." They're gone — to a competitor.

It's often difficult for the people closest to a Web project, especially those within an organization, to recognize poor design and functionality. The people who manage the creation of the site are too close to the corporate culture and brand, which often results in a site catering to an internal audience. Marketing and management usually don't have the expertise to critique the site with usability in mind. Development staff typically expend most of their energy getting the site up and then maintaining it to worry about usability issues. All parties involved have a natural bias to the final product because they have had significant input on what went into the design and content of the site.

My speech or seminar will walk the audience through the web design evaluation process from the first click a visitor makes to the last.

I'll provide advice on how to:

• Look at a web site logically and objectively.
• Identify and explain what works.
• Identify and explain problem areas.
• Propose solutions to fix the web site.

Web Design Checklist

As part of each speech, seminar, or consultation, attendees receive a seven-page master checklist of possible design errors.

With your site in mind, go through the checklist and mark the boxes. The fewer checkmarks, the more likely your site doesn't end up here.

I've also included links to sites to help you with color, graphics, fonts, search engine optimization, performance metrics and other tools.

Create Your Own Topic

I tailor my speeches to your needs and audience. If you want a talk about a specific topic, let me know.

Where I've Spoken

Many of my seminars and speeches are to closed groups under non-disclosure. However, some of the places I've given keynotes, seminars, and speeches include:

1. FDIC
2. Rutgers University
3. Indiana University WebDevShare
4. University of Washington
5. InternetWorld (twice)
6. Los Alamos National Laboratory
7. VNU Online Learning (with Jakob Nielsen)
8. Greater Seattle Business Association
9. Insurance Marketing Communications Association and the Life Communicators Association
10. International Association for Human Resource Information Management
11. Society for Technical Communication Willamette Valley
12. Content Week
13. WinWriters Online Help Conference
14. CorelWorld
15. ThunderLizard's Web Design Series (twice)

I've appeared on CNN, PBS, TechTV's Screen Savers, and been interviewed on numerous radio programs.

For more information, contact me.