The

Gates N Fences Homepage: What Isnt Wrong With It?!

Prepared by: Misty A. Adams


To have a successful website, people have to Find what they need Understand what they find Act appropriately on that understanding --Ginny Redish

Introduction This essay will outline how Gates N Fences (www.gatesnfences.com, henceforward GNF) may improve their site according to principles discussed in Ginny Redishs Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content That Works. Redish tells us that most people read very little of a home page (2007). Redish also explains that the home page of a site should establish the brand of the site, help people to get a sense of the purpose of the site, and enable people to begin key tasks immediately (2007). With these basic concepts in mind, the GNF site is a veritable train wreck. Since users read very little of sites home page, it would be logical to have as little text as possible; unfortunately, there is more text on the GNF home page than may be found on some entire sites. With all of this text the home page header is lost and the name of the site (the brand) is invisibleergo, users have no idea of whom the site is about. Lastly, links should enable users to get to information and/or tasks quickly and efficiently (key tasks), yet the home page is overwhelmed with hyperlinks that send the user all over the site and obnoxious buttons that are difficult to read and further lose the user. There are more issues

(and their solutions) with the GNF homepage that will be discussed later in this essay.

Where To Begin Lets examine a short list of the most obvious problems with the GNF home page: Header isnt really a header Too much text No topic headings Distracting buttons Too many hyperlinks Unnecessary images

Header isnt really a header

Headers should introduce a sites logo, name, and possibly a tag line to inform users (Redish, 2007). The GNF header contains two distracting photos and, though the sites name is included, it is cluttered by the addition of the companys physical address and contact information.

Too much text

This issue is self-explanatory. The GNF home page easily has over 1000 words. There is too much text and information in the header, too much text over, under, and around images on the site, and too much text in the page body. The home page is a blur of grey due to all the text.

No topic headings
As if too much text werent already an issue, none of the text on the home page is identified with a topic heading. Its difficult to ascertain what any of the text is referencing without reading all of it. Redish (2007) explains in chapter 10 what comprises good headings: Gets the user interested Provides a quick overview of whats on the page Provides context for each section (and a link) Make sense of what is to be found IN the site Facilitates scanning Provides section separation Makes page (text) less dense for greater readability

Distracting buttons
Its probably not possible to explain in writing how awful the link buttons are on the GNF home page. Positioned as a common left-hand navigation bar, the buttons are all bright red (except the home button, which is bright green) making the underlined text almost unreadable. Also, there are far too many buttons and they extend below the fold.

Too many hyperlinks

In addition to horribly colored and underlined text within buttons, the GNF home page has over thirty hyperlinks. Most are, as expected, colored blue, but many are colored the same bright red as the horrible buttons. Almost all are

underlined. And several take you offsite to other business pages. Redish (2007) explains what comprises meaningful links in chapter 12: Product names should not be links Titles and headings: appropriate for a link? Match link name to page title Be as explicit as possible Action phrases for to do links Single nouns sparingly; more description works better Short description, if needed (mouse-over pop-up?) Make links meaningful Coordinate multiple links Dont embed if you want people to stay on a page Make bullets active, too Make visited and not visited links on a page obvious (color change)

The links on the GNF home page are not meaningful, there are far too many of them, and they do not contribute to the readability of the site.

Unnecessary images
Lastly, Redish tells us in chapter 11 that images and illustrations should be used effectively, that theres a continuum of types of illustrations that serve different purposesfrom representational to emotional (2007, pg. 273). For a commercial informational site such as GNF, images should be representational, showing users exactly what sort of work they do, what they create, etc. However, just as important as what images should do is where they are placed on a page. Images should back up the text and vice versa. The GNF home page has images all over (including within the header) but they really do not add to informing the user of the purpose of their site.

How to fix it In a word? SIMPLIFY. It really is not necessary to try and cram as much information as possible onto a home page. What is necessary is to interest the user into looking further into the site. Does this site have what I need/am interested in? If so, what is it that Im looking for, exactly?

Header
The header contains only the business name in large, easily discerned lettering. Ideally, the header will be continued throughout each page of the site and clicking on it will return the user to the home page.

Text
Less is more. The text on the page has been reduced dramatically. What the site is (home page for Gates N Fences), what they do (ornamental gates and wrought iron), who they are (the footer which includes contact information) and pertinent links.

Headings
Due to the extreme reduction of text, the current headings inform you of what GNF provides and distinguishes the now simplified links located in the left hand navigation bar.

Buttons and hyperlinks

Buttons are really not necessary on a site like the GNF home page, so they have been completely discarded. Additionally, a minimal number of hyperlinks have been migrated to the left hand navigation bar. The links now identify, clearly, the products that GNF sells, the services they provide, and how to contact them either for a quote or just a question. And as a nod to the original home page, a link to their FAQ about aluminum has been retained.

Images
Images have also been discarded, retaining only three that illustrate the three main services that GNF provides: ornamental gates, wrought-iron railings, and security gates. These images relate directly to the information provided in the home page text.

Conclusion Redish has provided an in-depth overview of how placing simpler, more direct information on a page makes for a more usable site for users. Less text, more specific links, and relevant images all add to more efficient site use. Users want to find information quickly and the extreme simplification of the GNF home page enables users to located products and services without having to wade through a dense mass of unnecessary text, distracting buttons, and an overload of hyperlinks.

Works Cited
Gates N Fences Home Page. (2008(?)). Retrieved February 8, 2012, from Gates N Fences: http://www.gatesnfences.com/ Redish, J. (. (2007). Letting go of the words: Writing web content that works. San Francisco: Elsevier.