Here we go again.
Another example of inadequate web design in Oxford, MS... University Sporting Goods. The University Sporting Goods website is, to be blunt, awful. I don't even believe that it would pass as mediocre web design in 1994... sorry (I'm not being rude - it's just how I see it... along with everyone else). Let me tell you, this e commerce website really makes me want to pull out my credit card and go to town... No, seriously, I doubt University Sporting Goods has ever received an online order. However, a few design changes and a more modern look could change that.Here are some things that I notice right off the top of my head:
- Graphics and Styles are Awful
- The whole layout is in frames
- E commerce layout is not user-friendly
Honestly I would expect University Sporting Goods to have great graphics on their website considering that they employ some of the best graphic designers in all of Oxford. That just goes to show that graphic designers are not necissarily web developers (and vice versa). Take a look at the header and menu and tell me if you think it looks like something to show off.
The text styling on this website is a headache. I am all for school spirit, but honestly, red and blue text EVERYWHERE?? Furthermore, the text is center aligned everywhere... not good.
Framed Layout
Every page in the University Sporting Goods website is a frame. This means that pages are built into another page basically. If you take a look at the website and click on any link then the URL does not change. For instance, if you were to choose the menu item "Tailgating" the page that you are taken to is a subset of the homepage... notice that the URL remains constant at http://www.rebelfever.com/ rather than a more search-engine friendly URL of http://www.rebelfever.com/tailgating. I know that most people are going to say, "Why does that even matter? I still get to access the page that I want to see." That may be true, but from a design and development aspect it is inferior. Not to mention that from a search engines viewpoint it appears that all pages are the same... same title, same meta descriptions... not good at all. Each page should have a unique keyword-rich title and meta description... SEO 101.
The E commerce Layout is not User-friendly
As I mentioned before, I doubt that University Sporting Goods has ever received an online order... well that is because the ecommerce aspect of the site looks out-of-date and untrustworthy. I would be skeptical to put my credit card digits in this site for fear that my identity would be immediately stolen. Overlooking the fact that the ecommerce portion of the site is outdated, the layout is anti user-friendly. There should be a category menu on every single page of the ecommerce store so that users can easily browse from one category to the other. Also, it would be nice to be able to browse items by price, size, gender, etc...
If I was Pat Patterson, I would cut the cord on this website... especially since people actually see it (embarrassing). Check out the volume of searches on Google that are related to University Sporting Goods:
Look at that! That is an average of 533 monthly searches for terms related to University Sporting Goods on Google alone (not including the other major search engines such as Yahoo or Bing). Volume like this makes the current website scream, "Stop! Don't let them see me!"
University Sporting Goods has a great reputation; their customer service is second to none in Oxford. However, their website is last to all at the moment. I can't say it enough, "This day and time, a company's online presence is just as important as their offline presence." This is true because people are searching searching searching... the numbers don't lie. A fresh new website design would do wonders for the image of University Sporting Goods, and who knows, maybe even some online sales.
Adam is considered a top Internet marketing consultant for the local Internet Marketing company P.O.G. in Oxford Mississippi. To learn more visit: http://ProfitOptimizationGroup.com
Adam is considered a top Internet marketing consultant for the local Internet Marketing company P.O.G. in Oxford Mississippi. To learn more visit: http://ProfitOptimizationGroup.com
No comments:
Post a Comment