How good is your Web site? Sales, of course, are the ultimate answer, but here’s some criteria by which you can grade your site – and those of your competitors. We’ve based our Web site critique form on the one DIRECT’s sister publication Catalog Age uses to rate print catalogs for its annual awards program (see page 137) and extended it substantially. Because Internet sites serve different purposes, however, this form should be edited to reflect your site’s strategy. If you lack a written strategy stating how your site should augment existing business, putting one on paper is a good place to start. Strategy in hand, you can take the test and see how well your site performs.
After completing each section and tallying the final score, you can determine how your site compares with the competition. Sites change frequently, so don’t let this be a one-time event.
When I owned my agency, we asked each account executive to use the Catalog Age form to evaluate the catalogs other in-house account executives had done that season. No one ever creates a perfect catalog, which leaves plenty of room for improvements. Constantly add criteria to your critiques, especially for online catalogs, as new ideas and techniques are added every day. – Katie Muldoon
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