Webby Awards' Tips for Improving Automotive Sites
Does your automotive site have what it takes to share the spotlight with 2005 Webby Awards winners like Mercedes Benz and Cars.com? From now until December 16, 2005, automotive sites of all shapes and sizes have an exciting opportunity to become a part of history by entering The 10th Annual Webby Awards, "the online equivalent of an Oscar," according to The New York Times (June 21, 2005). As the web enters its second decade as an integral part of everyday life, you'll want to speak with Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain, who can tell your audience how to score a perfect 10 applying her 10 tips for creating a winning automotive web site. Based on the best practices and success stories of The 9th Annual Webby Awards winners, Tiffany's Perfect 10 tips include: Show community spirit Increase loyalty and sales by providing customers with ways to connect and communicate with each other. Café Press (Best Retail) uses message boards, chats, offline events and vendor spotlights to build stronger relationships with its customers. In people we trust Make your site customer-centric by allowing users to rate and review products, services, and content. IgoUgo.com (Best Travel) and Target. com (People's Voice for Best Retail) allow customers to speak their mind and provide their thumbs up - or thumbs down. Less is more Avoid bells and whistles that slow users down and prevent them from quickly and easily completing what they came to do, Google (Best Practices) and Muzak (Best Professional Services) demonstrate the beauty and power of a clean, simple interface. Consider a blog While you may use traditional marketing and advertising strategies to attract your customers, integrating a blog like celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (Best Celebrity/Fan) or a podcast will give your site a life and voice of its own. Stay on course Keep your navigation bar consistent and prominent on every page so that your customers don't get lost. Apartments.com (People's Voice for Best Real Estate) uses guides to show users both where they are and how they can get back to where they started. Make contact Put a clear link from the home page that leads to your company's contact information. E*Trade.com (Nominee for Best Financial Services) gives customers a range of choices for getting in touch - from telephone to email. Customers will place more trust in your company if they know you are easily accessible from various mediums. Set expectations When it comes to online customer service, it's critical that you set your customer's expectations. New York Times Online (People's Voice for Best Newspaper) replies to all customer queries with auto response email that confirms their message was received and when they can expect a response. Keep up appearances Unlike a movie or a book, a web site is a constant work in progress. Consumer Reports (Best Guides/Ratings/Reviews) keeps visitors coming back by updating its home page regularly breaking news and information. You can easily link to other sites to receive fresh content. Be resourceful Increase the value of your site and position yourself as authority by providing information and services that enhance your site's mission - like tools, surveys and industry news. Jiffy Lube (Nominee for Best Services) offers its customers safety information, tips for road trips, and much more. Make searching easy Give your customers the ability to search both within your site and on the web. The search functions on Fortune.com (Best Financial Services) and Pfizer.com (People's Voice for Best Pharmaceutical) make finding information - no matter where it's located - simple and fast. The 9th Annual Webby Awards attracted worldwide attention with a star- studded New York City ceremony showcasing five-word speeches from more than 60 Webby winners, including former Vice President Al Gore, who was on hand to receive The Webby Lifetime Achievement Award from Internet founder Vint Cerf. (Gore's headline-grabbing speech: "Please don't recount this vote."). A full list of winners, which were chosen from more than 4,400 entries from 40 countries and all 50 states, can be found at http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php For more information on past Webby Award winners or how your readers can compete for Best Automotive Site of the year, please visit www. webbyawards.com. The deadline for entries is December 16, 2005.