Give your Web site a face lift Since management realized the Internet wasn’t some passing craze, your company gave in and developed a Web site. Now you can sit back and relax, right? Well, how long have you been relaxing? Do you remember the last time your site was updated? Nowadays, when someone wants information about your organization, the first place they go is your Web site. Is you site delivering the first impression to these people that you would if you met them face-to-face? The most effective Web sites are clean, consistent and user-friendly. In addition, the information provided is current, which means updating your site more often than once a month. The look and design of your Web site should be consistent with your company’s image and other marketing tools. Be sure your graphics and images are timely and aren’t distracting from the message you want to get across. Make it easy for your site users to find what they are looking for. Ask your customers or primary audiences what they do and don’t like about your Web site and make changes accordingly. Your internal staff may have lots of suggestions, but they are not the primary people using your site. Oftentimes, users prefer navigation bars based on audience. For example, a bank could have links for current customers, prospective customers, business accounts, etc. Be sure you have an About Us page that gives basic information about your organization and a Contact Us page with contact information. The content on your site should be concise and short. The majority of users only scan text online, and Web content should only contain half as many words as its print counterpart. Paragraphs should be no more than two or three sentences. Split up long pages into several pages and use bulleted lists instead of large chunks of information. Visitors should be able to see the most important information on a page without scrolling down because the majority of people will not scroll beyond what they see at first glance.   Help us help you! We are planning our fall seminar schedule, so tell us what you want to learn about. Which seminar topic interests you most? Writing for the Web Planning special events Maximizing trade shows Market research on a dime Use this link if the form above doesn't work The Mad Hatter is back! Chris Harris was recently recognized by 20 Hats as a “Mad Hatter,” which is our way of saying, “Way to juggle all those hats you wear every day!” Harris currently serves as the operations manager for Partners HR, which is a human resources consulting firm in Oklahoma City. At Partners HR, Harris is responsible for all daily recruiting functions, including interviewing, background and reference checks, facilitating communication between clients and candidates, and follow ups with new placements. In addition, Harris supervises the sales staff and the recruiting and support staff. He monitors sales activity levels, the number of successful contracts secured with clients and the number of successful job placements. We want to congratulate and celebrate those achievers in our community who tirelessly work to fulfill many different duties in their jobs. Click here to nominate yourself or someone you know for our “Mad Hatter” award.