errorfreewebsite

When I learn about a new company, the first thing I do is go to the company website. I recently was checking out the wesbite of a printing company who wanted my business. I clicked a link to the website from the email I received from the print shop. The company’s website looked modern, it was clean and looked good.

Just as I was starting to feel good about the printing company and its fabulous pricing, my eyes wandered to the upper right corner of the company’s home page. There was a decently designed logo. But because I have an eye for detail, I looked closer. To my horror, I saw a typo in the tagline of the logo. The tagline read “Pint with Confidence. Print with Us” Pint? Is this also an ice cream shop? No – the word in the tagline should have been PRINT! Hello Printing – is the business. Obviously, I do not have any confidence in a printer that cannot produce a logo with confidence. Oh and this mistake is in the live text on the home page and appears as the first line of text that generates in search engine results. A website mistake like the one described is like throwing money in the trash.

How could this be? How could a business owner have a company website longer than a week and not notice that his very own logo and first line of text has typos?

My first reaction was that the owner of this small business entrusted the design of the website and logo to someone that he or she felt was capable. But why wouldn’t this owner not thoroughly examine the final website before launching it or take a look at it once and a while? Or worse, that the owner employs people that are not detailed oriented haven’t noticed the typos either. Unfortunately, many small business owners do not understand the value of a website. A website represents what your company is and what your company stands for. It is working hard for you 24 hours a day represents your company when after normal business hours.

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As a buyer of print services, I look for a printer that produces an excellent final product. That means printed materials free of errors caused by the printer. Once a printing company sent me a proof to approve with half of my client’s company logo cutoff. When it comes to printed materials I am a stickler. (Well – anyone would be angry about a logo being cutoff!) But there is never an excuse for giving poor quality work to a customer to approve - never.

Obviously, I will not entrust my print job to a printer that has a serious typo in its own logo. If the owner or even the employees of the print shop haven’t noticed an error in its logo or tagline on the site, how will they see errors in my print job? This is the rationale that any smart, detailed-oriented business leader would have in this situation.

Companies that have a website should follow these three simple rules:

1. Keep your site up-to-date: Don’t walk away from your website once it is built. Small businesses need not have fresh posts to the company website every day. However, a fresh customer testimonial, updates about services or new clients is nice to add to the home page.

2. Check for typos and misspellings: Have your websites reviewed for errors by fresh eyes. Your webmaster and designer will more than likely miss a few typos. (No one is perfect, neither are we!)

3. Treat your website as part of your brand: Your website is an extension of your business and brand. If you change the branding of your business make sure it is translated on your website. Most importantly, if you offer an email address on your site for customer comments and questions, make sure you respond promptly as you would if the customer walked into your establishment.

Nobody will ever say that running your own small business is easy. If you pay attention to the details in all aspects of your business and you will never lose a customer like myself. Don’t let website typographical errors or other nonsense not directly related to the quality of your product or service ruin a potential business relationship. (November 2009)

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