In my last post, Deirdre Lord requested - and got - reader feedback on her start-up's Web site. During the last meeting of the She Owns It business group, Ms. Lord talked about how helpful she found many of the comments.
One of her main goals in soliciting feedback was to learn whether the site helps a general audience understand what her company does. On that count, the Megawatt Hour's Web site seemed to succeed, she said. “It is clear what you do and how you do it,†said one commenter.
Ms. Lord was especially thankful for the specific advice she got. One commenter, for example, urged her to add language that describes the “magic bullet†her company offers - what can it give customers that no one else can? “We give customers access to their own pricing model - no one else does that,†she replied. Adding that “magic bullet†language will probably be one of the first changes she makes. “It's pretty easy, as long as the layout doesn't change dramatically, to add one sentence about how we're different,†she said.
She also appreciated a suggestion that she move her video to the left side of the page, because people read left to right. This same commenter noted that Ms. Lord's voice in the video sounded very dry and not at all passionate. “It's true, I've heard that about my voice since I was 12-years-old,†Ms. Lord said, adding that the comment “was delivered very thoughtfully.†To ensure that her passion for her business comes through, she is considering hiring someone to do a voiceover through VoiceBunny, a start-up that uses crowdsourcing to find voiceover talent.
Some comments raised issues the Megawatt Hour had planned to address “at some point,†she said. The Web site's use of the color gray was one. She said it was chosen in an attempt to differentiate the Megawatt Hour from other energy-related businesses, which tended to use blue and green on their sites. “We don't want to look like everybody else,†she said. “But it's probably true that the palate is not perfect.â€
“Changing the palate is relatively easy as opposed to changing the layout or the content,†said a group member, Jessica Johnson, who owns Johnson Security Bureau.
Ms. Lord agreed. She added that the Megawatt Hour spent most of its time and resources on the platform that sat behind its site. The success of the business, she said, depends on that platform. “Our business won't sink or swim based on the landing page for this Web site, but it's important that people get past that landing page to our actual platform.â€
“What do you think your competitors will think or do as a result of seeing t he post and the feedback you've gotten about your Web site?†Ms. Johnson asked. The Megawatt Hour considers energy brokers and consultants to be competition, although they operate on a different model.
“I'm not sure, but I don't feel like we exposed any kind of major weakness or any great secrets,†Ms. Lord replied. “Having any clarity around these issues is a big step up for our customers and sets us apart from our competitors.â€
In future posts, we'll catch up with all of the business group's owners and review additional sites. Alexandra Mayzler, who owns Thinking Caps Tutoring, and Beth Shaw, who owns YogaFit, are redesigning theirs.
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