People have asked me many times about the idea of surveying visitors to a college or university Web site. At first blush, this seems like a great idea......we are getting all those hits to our site, why don't we just ask those folks what they want and need so we can build our site to be more effective?
Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. I mean put yourself in the user's seat. You are on the Budget Rental Car site trying to book a car for your trip tomorrow and you basically want to get it done in 3 seconds or less. Whoops....a pop up box opens, "We'd like your feedback about our Web site!" What's your reaction? You are completely annoyed, of course, and wish you had gone to the Avis site instead. NOT the reaction you are seeking from your Web visitors.
A better approach is to conduct an independent study of your Web site. You can use qualitative and quantitative research to get at what your Web visitors want and need without bothering them WHILE they are trying to use it. If you ARE going to survey Web visitors, this article in Quirk's has some good recommendations on how to do it while minimizing any negative effect you might have on your visitors.
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