Make sure your website works

I was doing some research yesterday and needed to look up the ingredients in Claritin-D. I googled Claritin and went to the Claritin website. Schering Plough must have spent a ton of money on it. There is an animation containing 3D pictures of simulated characters telling their stories. All animations direct one to a button that says “take the Claritin-D tour.” This brings up a pop-up window with a bunch of text with another button that says “ask your pharmacist now” but the button doesn’t do anything.

I’m still trying to find out what is in Claritin-D! It took me a few more minutes but finally I found a “read the box” link and got the answers I needed. Whoever designed this site must not feel that the ingredients of the product or the directions for use are a priority.

I see another button “Get a $4 off coupon” Well OK, I buy allergy medicine and occasionally buy Claritin or a generic. I click on the button, get a new screen, and fill out my name, email and mailing address. Under “State” the form has a dropdown menu but no individual states are listed and I cannot type in a state. There are two more buttons “usual brand” and “also tried” and both of those buttons are similarly designed. No brands are listed and there is no way to provide the information. I clicked the submit button and got a reply that my request could not be processed because I have not provided all of the information.

Attractive site, interesting graphics but the information I needed was hard to find. Even then Schering Plough got me to in type my name and contact information but I could not submit it. My time was wasted. Instead of a positive experience I now have a negative experience with the brand.

I wonder how long this form will be posted before they figure out that no one is completing it. What is the return on investment of a negative sales number?

Bottom line. Write down what you want your customers to do on your website. Figure out the simplest way for them to do it. Document how you will know the website is performing up to your expectations. Test it then test it again before it goes live. Once it is live tell your friends. Hopefully one of them will tell you if it doesn’t work.

Until next time – all the best!

RolandB