Title Image

Hate is a Strong Word, But I Really Hate Your Website

Hate is a Strong Word, But I Really Hate Your Website

By Arieh Levi, Intern

Although it may seem that the sole purpose of the interns at Fusion is to play foosball with SVP Bob Geller, attempt to entertain Charlie, the office dog, and sing the many praises of Taco Bell at all hours of the day, this is a common misconception.

One of my primary jobs at Fusion – and personal favorite – is organizing a new-business list of prospective up-and-coming tech companies. To do this, I must look through the vast resources given to me – namely, the Internet – for contact information for company executives. After having finished about 1/8th of the list, I have learned that I have quite an axe to grind with high-tech companies and their respective websites. So, here it goes, in rhetorical question form:

If you have a company, then you must have executive leadership… right?

Let me lay it out for you. Let’s say you’re working at an ad agency, and are told to research prospective business opportunities. You go to Generic-Tech-Company’s website to look for contact information. You find: (a) a 1-800 support number, (b) an address, (c) the email address: info@generic-tech-co.com, and finally, (d) a quick piece about how that company is focused on “integrity,” and “work ethic,” and so on. Now, what if you soon discovered that nearly every high-tech website out there had this same site layout? Mull that over for a second. My thoughts exactly – why can’t Generic-Tech-Company just put what you and I want to see: executive leadership (and maybe an e-mail or two somewhere in there)!

Oh sure, the site is for the consumer. Understood, fine. But even so, to impress a consumer, wouldn’t a company want to showcase the people behind their company? Even if those executives weren’t so accomplished, or lacked business experience, wouldn’t it be more impactful to display a name and face then a politically-correct stock photo next to a quote about “honesty” that belongs in a motivational poster? I feel much more comfortable trusting a business if I can put a name to a face, and not just an e-mail address.

And that’s just for the consumer! What about for the business interested in contacting another business for professional reasons? Shouldn’t there be an easier way to find contact information for a company executive? Perhaps a private website built for businesses with contact information of other businesses, but that’s another post entirely.)

So, the final word to all high-tech businesses: make sure your website has your executive leadership on it. And a working e-mail to a secretary or other executive employee (and not just a support line) would be nice.

Tags:
No Comments

Leave a Reply