Go live with a bang or a pop?
23rd June 2008 by David North
I posted not long ago on Blogging Brum about a potential new business directory for Birmingham I heard about. It’s now gone live and I hate to say it but I was rather underwhelmed by the online launch.
I’ve had a few comment exchanges with Jamie Morden who is Digital Media Manager for MyBrumTV and he asked for my opinion on the site. Well as I’m always bleating on about the social media phenomenon and I believe the MyBrumTV launch is very closely linked to this I thought why not write a blog critique of the site and allow Jamie a right to reply.
There are two aspects to the critique as I see it. Firstly the actual site, what it achieves and how it achieves it and secondly with regard to the online launch and methods used here.
The website itself it a pleasant design and is pretty simple to navigate. However the filmstrip style menu is going to be outgrown very quickly if this directory takes off – I can’t see people scrolling along 100’s of companies or categories. I’d love to see some kind of AJAX style navigation here to allow you traverse the directories quickly and easily (obviously with some non-AJAX fallback to ensure accessibility isn’t compromised). I feel it just needs some more excitement about it that draws you into the site. The introduction movie on the homepage I really don’t feel is going to be watched by people – if they are coming to a business directory they are just going to search. It’s the same thing for most homepage text people are looking for something specific and therefore don’t read what they just see as promotional blurb.
This brings me onto a search feature which is currently not available. As there aren’t a huge amount of companies online now I can perhaps understand why they haven’t rolled this out as yet but it will be essential in the future.
The company listings rely nearly entirely on the videos produced and although this is MyBrumTV’s selling point I don’t agree that videos should replace other textual content rather it should complement it.
Certainly the video can be used to sell a service but it you can’t impart all the important information about a product or service through a 5 minute video – I believe it’s more of a glossy finish – the final hard sell.
A contact form for each company listing is provided which is good however I’d group contact us (address and telephone) and more information (the actual online contact form) under the same tab “Contact us” as really the form is another way of contacting the company. I was expecting a text description or FAQs under the “More information” tab. I’m not sure how the comments tab is going to work as currently there is no way of posting comments yourself – obviously a function to follow.
Video quality I’ve found to be very good (although this certainly isn’t my speciality) and I’ve had no problem with streaming issues etc. From a brochure perspective I believe they do their job.
Code quality on the MyBrumTV isn’t bad although there are still areas to tighten up with the site currently failing a XHTML validator.
My main issue with the website is the lack of content. I’m talking here about text content which is of the upmost importance to the visitor and essential for accessibility. I don’t think you can assume visitors are going to play every video for every company listing in a category. Therefore the copy should work alongside to give the visitor a taster and entice them to watch the video. As the website is a business directory and therefore going to rely heavily on the World’s most important blind user - Google - this really is a trick they are missing. To this end, in addition to accompanying text copy, I believe the alternative content for the video is essential – each movie has a script so why not provide this in the alternative description for the flash?
Search engine optimisation is virtually nonexistent on the website save some hidden keyword spamming at the bottom of the page – tut tut. I really think a review is needed here as this is only going to get you penalised by Google! The most important element on the page (the page title) is consistently “MyBrumTV” throughout the website not describing the page content at all. The lack of content on the site is going to cause the search engines to see virtually blank pages everywhere.
I understand completely that the work on this website is ongoing and it’s not the finished article. Jamie himself said the site is launching in phases with the main launch in September so please don’t take this as a hatchet job on the website just some suggestions how I feel it could improve.
I’d also like to just mention the launch of the site as I believe this can be vital to building an initial visitor base.
I certainly can’t comment with regard to offline promotion of the MyBrumTV website other than the free newspaper that dropped through my door that alerted me to its existence (I don’t read much traditional press at all). However as this is an online project I was surprised to find that there is virtually nothing happening online at all.
Perhaps this initial launch of MyBrumTV is a beta version to be tested and built on? In which case I could perhaps understand the muted buzz online. However it’s not promoted as such and in any case I really think even websites in beta should try to promote themselves in some way to attract visitors to beta test or start laying the groundwork.
A good example of this Odadeo which is currently in private beta (ask for an invitation) – an excellent idea of a social media site for Dads! Even though in private beta the wheels are already moving with regard to making people aware of the site.
The MyBrumTV website certainly has many sources open to promote itself and improve its offer. Being a local website means it can lean on local community to promote it – it’s the only reason I posted about it in the first place. Having this local community means it makes it easier to promote to this restricted location. Also it’s going to take time to get the site visible online in the meantime why not lean on existing applications available such as YouTube?
Directories are ten a penny online so they need to distinguish themselves online be it with functions not available elsewhere (not sure videos are enough alone) or by attracting a website community.
I’m sure there are other things in the pipeline – Jamie mentions social networking in a way that suggests the site will feature social features in some way. However if this is the case why launch with a site that doesn’t have any of the more flashy features? Web users are fickle so if they don’t find anything on a site that excites them getting them to come back is more difficult than getting them in the first place.
Maybe I’m wrong and the slow burn is the effect they are after but I would try to create as much of a bang for the launch for a site like this…it’s been more of a pop. It feels premature if I’m honest.
Don’t get me wrong I really think if done well a local community business directory could work well (I’m not aware of any that do this well) especially with Google’s move to more and more local results.
At the end of the day there has to be a big carrot to get people to navigate away from their Google homepage to an alternative way of searching for businesses.
Perhaps another sign of a disjointed online and offline approach here is that there is no mention of how to get a business into the directory on the website. Obviously all approaches to businesses has been offline so far.
It’s an online project so why not embrace the many varied online tools to make your life easier and you website more popular? In addition online promotion is so much cheaper than offline – it’s a no brainer really.
David,
Well, I must say that is a very thorough and thoughtful review of the site. Many of the points that you have raised are valid and your critique has been balanced with good and experienced led arguments. There are a few points that have not quite grasped the intention of the site, but as an initial review (as Fox News keeps bangin’ on about) ‘Fair and Balanced’.
Did the site launch too early?…well, Yes and No! Yes, because there is a still a lot hidden from the user and as i mentioned on BB, the site will stabalise in 2 or 3 weeks! No, because of contractual agreements with customers. From the initial idea of the site, a great deal has been added or should i say, a great deal will be added.
This is not necessarily the way I have worked in the past, with the site being developed on paper, fully structured with a full Project plan…but to be honest, it has been extremely fulfilling to lead with a visual and to make that work. Developing a website with a New Media company is waaaayyy different from developing for a Newspaper.
Personally, i don’t like the ‘Big Bang’ approach to site launches, maybe for this very reason, but as i mentioned before, the target is September…for me anyway! Obviously i’ve read your other blogs and visited your company website and kind of get a ‘feel’ for the type of Developer you are…and totally understand your point of view…translating this to Senior, non-technical people is…err…always hazardous, but with the technical aspects aside, my company has a very fresh approach…in fact, it’s stirred up my creativity again!…:-)
Seriously though, you mention about “I’m talking here about text content which is of the upmost importance to the visitor and essential for accessibility”…This raises 2 points.
1. The intention of the site
2. The reality
We’ve added ‘traditional’ copy to the site, but to be honest, this is just filler text…important, it gives information, but the whole site is about video content. This has been where most of our concentration has been…rather than read about Birmingham…just watch it. The site is quite ’schizophrenic’ in that it has two parts. One is the Directory and the other being Editorial videos.
Most websites that utilise video…and I mean News led websites, will have the video tucked away as an afterthought. We believe that it should lead the story and if the user wants to find out more, then they can read the full text…people are just so much more passive now…it’s just the way it is.
You bring up Accessibility…An important component, but is usually brought up between Designers, Developers and Design houses as a reason to bring on new clients or to say “my Kung Fu is better than yours”…apart from the Olympics in 2000…name me one case that has gone to court! It’s a ‘White Elephant’ and always has been…The DDA says that a website needs to make “reasonable adjustments’…which quite frankly, can mean anything. I know, because i worked as a Developer for the Department of Work and Pensions for 7 years…I’ve had it rammed down my throat so much, that I may as well call myself “Dragon”!
Does this mean that i am cavalier to my approach…no…far from it, but there is a reality…the same as with xhtml compliance. i didn’t make Gordon Brown my PM and i certainly had nothing to do with W3C…maybe, just maybe…they are incorrect! Also, does the user care if a break tag has a space or not…(shrug). As a Musician, should i play the same 3 chords everyone else does?…no, i do my own thing!
I will take on board your comments and i hope to at leat meet up with you at some point, but we do have a Platform, connections to lots of Businesses throughout Brum and i would welcome if you would (given your time etc) Blog for us, review gadgets in our Technical section (once live)…becuase you have something to say!
Keep up the good work!
jamie
Hi Jamie
I had a feeling there might be agreements with customers that might have forced your hand with the launch date.
You mention “traditional” copy on the site as filler text - I would have to say that if there is filler text I couldn’t even find it! I understand the whole site is about video content but I still feel it lacks copy to draw the visitor into the videos. If I’m searching for a restaurant to go out to tonight I’m not going to watch all the 5 minute videos to decide (that would take hours). Instead I’d prefer a brief summary and read reviews (I know these comments are coming in the future) and then view the videos of the restaurants of particular interest. I don’t think most web users have much attention span. I understand your comment about users being “passive” but I don’t agree this is true during the search phase which is where you need to hook them to view the videos.
I have to disagree completely when it comes to accessibility however. A lot of people see accessibility as a “nice to have” feature which doesn’t really cut it when it comes to a business argument (depending on your sector of course) especially as legally speaking the DDA hasn’t really been upheld by the courts.
However if you look at accessibility from another perspective then it really has a strong business argument to support it. An accessible website is by design easier for search engines (the ultimate blind users) to navigate so if you want to rank well in search engines this can give you a real advantage. Secondly it’s about opening your website to the maximum audience possible. Accessibility isn’t just for the visually impaired but the elderly, dyslexics, motor impaired users… I could go on. This isn’t a small amount of people here just search for statistics and you’ll see there are millions that fall under one or more categories. Why limit your audience?
The DDA says you must take “reasonable steps” which I agree is vague – we tend to take it as showing you have actually thought of this area and have implement some strategy to approach it. Generally this means getting to WAI level 1 at least but why not go further if it opens up the website to more people?
Also with regard to XHTML compliance I don’t think you can really say just because you didn’t choose the W3C they might be incorrect. The W3C create the standards that are then adopted by browsers. Certainly browsers are forgiving of non standard code and as long as your site works in the major browsers most people don’t care. However it again comes down to maximising audience - if you have standards compliant code you are more likely to have a site that works on other browsers other than you have tested. It also future proofs your site for new browsers. Again the search engines spring up as standards compliant websites ensure they can understand all content within your site.
With both accessibility and standards compliance in mind I think it would be difficult to argue the case to senior non-technical people that you are shutting a substantial amount of people out of the site for, let’s be honest, very minimum changes to the website.
Would be good to meet up – I’m always interested to see new projects especially within the Birmingham area.
David,
Thanks again for your thoughtful comments.
Jamie
Ive been checking in to see what the Mybrumtv thing was all about with great interest.
I have to say that I hate this website. Its made from software anyone can buy at a very small price from http://www.ostube.de/en/ostube All theyve done is thrown in some adobe stock pictures all over it, to make it look a bit nicer and then joined up with the local college to get teenage students to shoot videos.
But not only that, they charge full price for these untrained unqualified children to make videos for real companys. Half the videos sound like they’ve been shot in a tunnel (people are not being miked up properly), with a school girl/boy voiceover. They are not scripted well either.
One of the “films” which shows a bus travelling down the road isnt even using a proper car to car mount - its hand held and wobbling all over the place. Another intro shot (their main preview) is shot from a dashboard and you can see the wipers bouncing in and out of shot (which theyve tried to disguise with an ugly transition which makes you feel sick). Another video shows a woman walking through a door and then comes out the other side a man!!! Although this had us in stitches, there’s a poor company out there that paid thousands for this public humiliation.
So Basically, its a website using software anyone can buy, filled up with stock photos, students making the videos, the site isnt SEO’d at all, no text anywhere, same heading etc and in my opionin a complete rip.
I recommend people get a decent broadcast quality video shot by a real production company (FOR THE SAME PRICE) and then put it on their own website, google video ads and Youtube. Far more chance of people happening by it, than on this unsearchable, unfindable, unSEO’d site.
Very disappointing!