The pace of business — and life — is so swift these days, we don’t often get the chance to take the time to step back from the details and the marketing plans and the tweeting and the rest to think about some big-picture basics.

So today, let’s think about some big-picture basics. In no particular order, here are a dozen questions you ought to be asking yourself about your online presence:

1. Do the pages on your Web site provide easy-to-understand visual cues indicating where in the site the user is at any given time?

2. Does the home page provide a comprehensive overview of the overall site contents?

3. Are your graphics, icons and symbols easily understood by your intended site audience?

4. Is the language used on your site easily understood by your intended site audience?

5. Is text legible on the screen and are your pages legible when printed?

6. Does your site have any grammar or spelling errors?

7. Do your page layouts utilize “above the fold” space effectively? In other words: Can your users access the most important content on the page without having to scroll?

8. If you’re capturing personal data, are you crystal-clear about how that data is used, stored and protected?

9. If your site utilizes search, are the search results clear, comprehensive and useful?

10. Does your site provide clear privacy and security policies?

11. Is your essential site content no more than two clicks deep from the home page?

12. Is customer service, including timely email communications where appropriate, a fundamental component of your online presence?

There are many others, of course, but these are a good start. It’s amazing how often a company fails to address one or more of these basics.

Takeaway for marketers: How well do you address the basics?

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 am and is filed under Internet Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways.