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September 17, 2007

Forrester Report Finds B2B Web sites Lacking in Usability

While many business-to-business (B2B) marketers contemplate implementing Web 2.0 strategies on their web sites, a recent Forrester Report finds that many B2B companies fail to meet even the most basic Web 1.0 standards.

Forrester evaluated 259 business-to-consumer (B2C) web sites and 62 B2B web sites on criteria covering four categories including value, navigation, presentation, and trust. Based on the data collected, Forrester concluded that B2B sites lagged B2C sites in every category except presentation.

Text legibility and site navigation were among the top offenders. The report also found B2B sites lagging in their ability to organize information in a logical and efficient manner, leaving room for improvements in user flow throughout the web sites.

How can you ensure that you are meeting the basic Web 1.0 standards? Here are four recommendations for improving your B2B web site:

1. Do your research! Understand your customer segments and ensure that your web site reflects a personalized experience for each audience segment that you are targeting.
2. Do not overwhelm visitors to your site. Although content management tools allow many users to submit content to your web site, an unorganized approach can confuse your web site visitors. Be sure that all internal departments are communicating a centralized message.
3. Think about visitors to your web site in a human context. Understand who they are, the information they seek, and the experience that the user needs from your web site.
4. Design the web site experience around your customer and their needs.