Would you like to design an outstanding new one? One of the best things you can do is find an outstanding model to emulate. Let’s take a look at one of the finest websites on the internet and do a point-by-point analysis of what makes it great.
The World Wide Web and its many manifestations have exponentially magnified a company’s ability to tell its story at a relatively negligible cost.
The website is any company’s primary port of entry into its online presence. When a person hears about an interesting company the first thing they typically do is seek out its website. And what do they find?
Many times it isn’t pretty. The torts and misdemeanors committed on the home pages of business websites are many. They include:
But let’s not dwell on the negative. Let’s take a look at an exemplary website that can serve as a model for our own websites. Open a new tab or second browser window and go to Mint.com.
This is the home page for Mint Software, a Mountain View, Calif.-based company. The first thing we notice is the lean, clean design and pleasing color palette.
Secondly, is there any doubt what business service these guys have to offer you? Not after reading the prominent banner headline: The best (free) way to manage your money.
Pass your cursor over the “safe and secure” link near the lower right corner of the page and a video screen containing a picture of Mint Software founder and CEO Aaron Patzer appears. It a powerful thing when a CEO speaks on a company’s behalf. During the two-minute video Patzer starts by reassuring potential customers that it’s safe to do business with his company because Mint has “bank-level data security” built into its servers. He goes on to explain the advantages of having all your accounts consolidated in a single place, such as easier fraud detection and alerts.
What else do you see on the Mint home page that reaches out to visitors and tries to create a sense of intimacy, connection or familiarity?
Take a look at the prominent navigation links across the top of the page. Four of the five links speak directly to the visitors’ questions, needs and interests.
The fifth link, “Blog,” is the site’s effort to provide a continuing relationship and stream of useful information to its clients and prospects.
The links across the bottom of the first screen, those superimposed over the green grass (a nice metaphor for money and growth), give visitors an even stronger embrace. Let’s review them.
The graphics and text that pop-up on every one of these links includes a very prominent orange link that says, “Free! Get started here” – a risk-free call to action at every step.
Then again, any company will assure you of its value and integrity. They’re not exactly an objective source. That’s why Mint.com’s decision to include home-page testimonials was a stroke of good thinking. In unobtrusive gray text just below the banner headline are statements that read:
Scroll down the home page and you get revolving testimonials from Mint clients, as well as, ‘What the press is saying,” “What’s new at Mint” and “Introducing MintLife,” which is the new name for the company blog.
It’s a brilliant, well conceived performance. The layout, design and graphics are excellent, the page speaks directly to its visitors and the text is simple and direct.
Mint must be doing something right. The company was acquired by financial powerhouse Intuit during the fourth quarter of 2009 for $170 million.
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If your company had a personality, what would it be?
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