Computer and Web Articles

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Really, Your Company Might As Well Have a Hole In Its Wallet

It’s just how things go. Sometimes websites go down.

Your website, your bank’s website, your favorite news site. Your favorite pirating site, your favorite weather site, your kid’s school’s site. Big or small, simple or fancy, sometimes websites go down.

But we all know that when your website goes down, it doesn’t matter that “it’s just how things go sometimes.” It’s not okay. In fact, the stress you feel when your site goes down (or the stress you will feel if you’ve not experienced this yet) is not unlike the stress you’d feel if you discovered the apocalypse was arriving in half an hour.

Yes, your site going down is akin to the end of the world. I know this because I’ve received frantic, screaming, SITE-DOWN!! emails from clients. I’ve received SITE-DOWN!! phone calls during which I swore I could hear hair being ripped from the scalp. Indeed, over the years I’ve been the recipient of some quite powerful horror-shockwaves that clients have set off during their temporary SITE-DOWN!! psychoses.

But here’s the thing: Oftentimes people think their site is down when it’s actually not. A variety of explanations exist as to how someone can’t view his own site when everyone else can. Sometimes DNS isn’t flushed. Sometimes things go weird with host files. Sometimes domain name changes haven’t propagated. Sometimes individuals attempt to visit their sites by typing in an incorrect address (yes, I’ve seen this). Etc. Etc.

In other words, it’s not unlikely that you might someday believe your site is down when it’s not. Thus, the next time you fear your site may be down—before you get yourself too worked up and before you contact your webmaster—visit www.DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com.

Just type your website address into the box and click the blue, underlined “or just me” text. You’ll find out right away if your fear is justified and there indeed could be an actual problem with your site that’s preventing everyone from seeing it. On the other hand, you may discover that it really is just you, that everyone else can see your site, and that there’s no reason to panic so intensely. You still might wish to contact your webmaster at this point, but hopefully you’ll now be able to do so with a mind as calm as the ocean.

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The DIY Way to Uncover Problem Areas in Your Website

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Is your website’s copy flying over your customer’s heads?

When your customer clicks what turns out to be a broken link in your site and-gasp-gets a 404 Error (page does not exist) error message, it’s instant frustration. He didn’t get what he wanted and he doesn’t know how to fix it. Getting a generic, default error message that you didn’t customize is even more frustrating, as default 404 error messages offer little guidance to help your visitors deal with the problem your site caused.

Creating a custom error message with a few soothing words for your visitors can decrease frustration and potentially improve their opinions of you as a business-despite the fact they didn’t get what they wanted. Sympathetic error messages can help make your users feel like their frustrations are being heard, and funny error messages can make them smile and show them your sense of humor is at play even at the worst of times.

Please note: When I use a word like “frustration” when describing users’ web-related experiences and emotions, I’m not talking about people ripping their hair out and banging their heads against their desks. I’m speaking of subtle emotions. Think heavy sigh, eye roll, or a quiet “aucghkch.”

Friendly error messages containing links back to the home page or other key pages in your site or even instructions on what to try next can keep your visitors moving, ensure more fluid experiences, and prevent your visitors from reaching abrupt dead ends.

Woot.com has a brilliant error message; take a look: http://tinyurl.com/lqcjpj). It’s compassionate, it offers two links to return to the homepage (the logo and blue underlined link), and it gives the user the immediate opportunity to write the company and mention what happened so it can be fixed (or so the user can vent his frustration).

If you’d like to check out some of the web’s funnier error pages, take a look at Mashable’s list of 35 Entertaining 404 Error pages here: http://tinyurl.com/399shxk.

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