ST701 Web Usability Fixed?
Well, the people at ST701.com actually removed that stupid idea of rollover image menu.
However, does the new menu improve usability and make it more search engine friendly. You be the judge.
For those who missed that difficult-to-use image menu, go check out this video:
Recently, probably early last month, the rollover Javascript was replaced by image map. And a couple of weeks ago the image map was replaced by a Flash animation with the Santa theme.
December 28th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Hello Timmguru,
I’ve read some of your blog posts. I’m not into SEO, so I must admit that I have difficulty understanding some concepts, and I’ll also come clean and say that I’ve a vested interest to find out what experts think about ST701. Who knows when I can glean a gem of insight right?
It quite obvious that Mediacorp has likewise invested huge amounts of ad-dollars into promoting their online classifieds (http://www.mocca.com). If SPH “is going all out to drive traffic to the revamped ST701″, Mediacorp appears equally determined judging from their TV commercials, ads on bus stops and taxis, radio ads …
But it seems that you’ve been curiously silent on mocca.com. If you’d care to also comment on mocca, I’m all ears. Cheers : )
December 28th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Hi Rain-Dog,
Thank you for reading my blog posts.
Now that you are reading this blog, you are into SEO! Here, I will try to translate some of these SEO concepts to everyday marketing ideas.
What Your Visitors Think Matter
Your visitors matter. You have to make it easy for them to use your Web site, it’s that simple.
First, take care of your visitors and your advertisers will be taken care of.
Second, functionality is more important than pretty appearance. Your visitors are looking for information… be it jobs or used cars. So go straight to the point, serve them the relevant information in 3 clicks or less.
Third, people uses Google and Yahoo to search for information. You want to know what your target visitors search for and position your relevant Web page in the Google and Yahoo search listings.
Who do you think will go search at ST701.com for “maserati spyder cambiocorsa“?
Most people will type in “maserati spyder cambiocorsa” at the search box of the browser toolbar.
Mocca.com vs ST701.com
I have no vested interest in Mediacorp. As a TV viewer, I think the Mocca TV ad with the bodybuilder sux.
I did not write about Mocca.com because it would probable take more time to find what I don’t like about the Web site. Whereas ST701.com was an “easy target” with all the obvious flaws. Also, I could not “tahan” that audacious claim “to supplant the big names of Google and Yahoo as the prime tool for sourcing local information” when SPH got a seriously flawed ST701.com.
P.S. SEO concepts can be easy to understand and are core to Web marketing, you can learn SEO at the SEO Workshop.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Hey Timmguru,
Appreciate your advice. Your recommendation to put functionality above aesthetics is indeed convincing - perhaps that’s why Craigslist is leading the pack in the US, despite its spartan look.
Btw, while on this matter of Craigslist, according to a recent International Herald Tribune (IHT) article, Kijiji.com is trying to supplant Craigslist as America’s top classified. Perhaps a “battle” worth watching.
Cheers.
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Hi Rain-Dog,
I think Kijiji.com is better looking than Craigslist. However, it still has an “ulgy” huge list of the US cities.
Again, a demonstration of functionality over aesthetics. The reason is obvious, a classified has to look like classifieds so that people do not need to think twice to use it.
From SEO viewpoint, all the links to the inner pages i.e. each city is a plain text link. This is good for the search engine spiders and also for people who are impatient to wait for the map to be displayed.
It is always good for the consumers to have more choices especially when it is “free”.