Newsletter issue #55 - 1st October 2008
This issue
Hello and welcome to the October edition of the Webcredible newsletter!
In this issue:
- Feature article: Online travel booking: What influences consumers?
- Top tip: Brush up the contact information on your site
- Useful program: Adeona laptop tracker
- Top link: Copyscape
- New articles in September
- Webcredible news in September
Enjoy!
Feature article: Online travel booking: What influences consumers?
For today's time poor consumers, booking a holiday can be a tough and time consuming process where the slightest assistance can help no end. The age old question always fired at a new band, 'What are your influences?' is just as important when it comes to online travel customers. In today's environment of long working hours and growing economic challenges, there's much that can be done both to make life easier for consumers and boost your travel business.
Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-credibility/travel-booking.shtml.
Top tip: Brush up the contact information on your site
Ideally, visitors will find all the information they need on your site, successfully get through their order and have no complaints that they need to contact you about. However, this isn't always the case and when people need more information or to sort out a problem, an effectively designed contact page can make the difference between a happy and a grumpy customer.
- Make contact information prominent At least a telephone number and an e-mail address should be displayed on every page. Web users are typically used to looking for this information through a “Contact Us” link in the site navigation or in the page footer. Prominent contact information will also help reassure site visitors that they're dealing with a credible company with a physical presence.
- Provide additional information for telephone numbers It's no good if users call when you're not there to pick up the phone, or if they call the wrong number for what they need. Always display when each telephone line is open and what each line is for e.g. “Order tracking helpline, open 9.00-17.00 weekdays”. If there's any information that callers will need to provide, such as an order tracking number, let them know in advance so they can have it at hand.
- Keep contact forms short and to the point When a query isn't urgent, some people may prefer to send a message instead of calling. A “contact us” form can be an easy way for site visitors to leave a message, if it's short and easy to fill in. Avoid asking any information that isn't directly necessary for answering queries and reassure site visitors that any personal information they enter will be used to answer their query, not for marketing purposes. Always give an indication of how quickly you'll be able to answer online enquiries, so that people with urgent enquiries can choose to call instead.
Useful program: Adeona laptop tracker
Worried about what to do if your laptop gets stolen? Adeona offers a free, open source system for helping to track lost or stolen laptops. You don't need to rely on any third party, you just need to download and install a small software client onto your laptop and then you, and you alone, will be able to track where the laptop is.
Download this useful program at adeona.cs.washington.edu
Top link: Copyscape
Copyscape is a great tool that allows you to check if your website copy has been plagiarised. Simply type in your URL and find out whereabouts on the web your copy has been re-used.
Check it out at www.copyscape.com.
New articles in September
Read these and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in September
- Webcredible launches information architecture (IA) training course
- Catch up with Webcredible on Facebook
- Travolution unveils exclusive Webcredible diary study
- IDeA launches new website following Webcredible usability testing
- VideoJug selects Webcredible for usability testing
Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.shtml.
Training courses
Courses continue to sell out well in advance! Our next training courses will take place in our training centre in Aldgate, London in November, December & January:
- Web writing training - Monday 3rd November, Monday 1st December & Monday 26th January. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our intermediate web writing training page.
- Web usability training - Tuesday 4th November, Tuesday 2nd December & Tuesday 27th January. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web usability training page.
- Usability testing training - Wednesday 5th November, Wednesday 3rd December & Wednesday 28th January. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our usability testing training page.
- Web accessibility training - Wednesday 5th November, Wednesday 3rd December & Wednesday 28th January. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
- Information architecture (IA) training - Thursday 4th December & Thursday 29th January. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our information architecture (IA) training page.
- Intermediate CSS training - Thursday 6th November, Thursday 4th December & Thursday 29th January. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our intermediate CSS training page.
- Advanced CSS training - Friday 7th November, Friday 5th December & Friday 30th January. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our advanced CSS training page.
About Webcredible
Based in London, UK, Webcredible is a user experience consultancy. Tailor-made usability, accessibility & design solutions include:
- User research
- User-centered design
- Accessible CSS web design
- Training courses & support
- Website reviews
- Usability lab hire
Please contact us on 020 7423 6320 or info at webcredible.co.uk, or consult www.webcredible.co.uk for further information.
