Sponsorship and Web Design – Part two

Okay, so now were going to talk about my two events web designs. But first we have to ask why do they use websites?

Masterman and Wood put forward a number of different reasons an event would want to use an effective website:

•   Can be a source of information for employees, investors, sponsor and researchers.
•   Can be a source of information for current and prospective customers.
•  Can communicate information about the organization and its product offering in an interactive way.
•  Can create a dialog between the organization and the user.

Source: Masterman, G; Wood, E (2006). Innovative Marketing Communications - Strategies for the events industry. Oxford: Elsvier Butterworth-Heinemann.

They also go on to say that in its simplest form can just be an online version of the organisations brochure, but in this day and age I think a bad website can have a hugely negative effect on an organisations image!

Although we can all tell when we are on a bad website, the question must be asked what makes a good website? In terms of business it is felt a good website can be measured in 10 critical areas (Hart, 2003), for the purpose of this post I am going to create a table listing each of these areas and rate the corresponding event website out of 10 for each section. I will then bullet point why I feel this rating it appropriate. After doing this for each website I will compare the two. 

First up, Cisco Live's website:

Objective	Rating out of 10	Comments
Clear strategic objectives for the site which fit with other communication methods.	7	Clearly aims to inform potential attendees and exhibitors.
Customer led rather than product driven content providing different areas for different customer groups.	8	Provides ample information and previous attendee reviews. Has separate areas for attendees and exhibitors.
Value added content updated regularly and customized for different user groups	7	Data provided not available online anywhere else.
Content management ensuring a dynamic rather than static site.	7	Regularly updated homepage. Regularly updated multimedia including videos and ‘Virtual Tours’
Data quality management.	6	Ample data although could be biased due to no external sources.
Professional design and usability projecting a consistent corporate image.	9	Almost flawless design Easy to navigate Every page remains professional and standardised.
High interactivity and functionality allowing customers to contact key personnel in the organization and each other.	9	Relevant contact details easily available for each area of the website. Links to interactive platforms such as twitter and Facebook. Ample virtual tours and multimedia.
Easy to navigate and quick to download with regular usability testing.	6	Extremely easy to navigate and find desired information No dead pages found. One layout issue found where menu will open behind embedded video on homepage.
E-communications strategy to complement the website.	7	Effectively serves the purpose to inform Effectively serves the purpose to pursued potential stakeholders.
Effective marketing of the website.	8	Easily assessable links through Cisco websites Official website appears first on every search for ‘Cisco Live Europe’ across 5 major search engines.

Secondly, Rallye Sunseeker's website:

Objective	Rating out of 10	Comments
Clear strategic objectives for the site which fit with other communication methods.	6	Clearly aims to inform potential attendees. Also aims to encourage volunteers.
Customer led rather than product driven content providing different areas for different customer groups.	6	Informs well about history and details of the event. Has clear sections for different stakeholders.
Value added content updated regularly and customized for different user groups	4	Content it adequate but could easily be found elsewhere on the internet.
Content management ensuring a dynamic rather than static site.	5	Regularly updated ‘news’ section. Images not updated since I began the blog.
Data quality management.	6	Ample data through a variety of sources, including magazine reviews.
Professional design and usability projecting a consistent corporate image.	6	Out-dated design Looks to be all created in HTML rather than CSS or Flash. Usability is good being able to access desired areas of the site easily.
High interactivity and functionality allowing customers to contact key personnel in the organization and each other.	7	Comprehensive ‘Contact’ area of the website. Interactivity is low although there are live view features.
Easy to navigate and quick to download with regular usability testing.	4	Easy to navigate Many buttons are out of place, usability testing is probably not implemented enough. Pixelated images
E-communications strategy to complement the website.	7	Effectively serves the purpose to inform Effectively provides a platform to monitor the rally
Effective marketing of the website.	8	Official website appears first on every search for ‘Rallye Sunseeker’ across 5 major search engines.

Overall scores:

Cisco Live 2012 – 74/100

Rallye Sunseeker  - 59/100

From above you can see that I have placed Cisco’s website slightly higher than Rallye Sunseeker, but for me this was defiantly expected. Even if I had not looked at the website’s and I was asked out of a Technology Giant and a Local Rally who’s website I thought would be best ,I would have always gone with the Technology Giant, in this case Cisco. From my research I have concluded that it is not the content that makes Rallye Sunseeker’s website inferior but the design and general professionalism, to me their website looks very amateur and out-dated. There are some simple issues that even a GCSE level IT student would be able to fix, to me this sort of website always screams ‘Scam!’ and always brings up questions on whether it is legit. These days with online ticket fraud being so popular having a professional and sleek website could make the difference between good ticket sales and not breaking even.

Here are a few screenshots of where I feel Rallye Sunseeker has let its self down....

Pixelated background and out of place links.

Link buttons still with white background, borderless white background logos.

In conclusion I think both events websites serve their purpose well, they are both informative and easy to navigate, with stacks of information at hand. They both have interactive elements in them, in Cisco's case these are very aesthetically pleasing by being embedded well. At the end of the day both of these events are free to attend so all they need to do is encourage people to turn up, this is defiantly easier than trying to sell them a ticket. From the past few weeks of posting these blog posts I have seen changes in the websites and have never once found myself thinking there is information missing that should be there, something that is very positive.

Here we are, at the end of my blog. Tomorrow I am going to begin writing my report and I have to say I will not miss doing these posts! Although at times I have found them hard, I think they are vital to this type of industry and however much I hate writing them I still enjoy reading them! I would just like to say thanks for taking the time to read my posts, I know some of them are defiantly too long but teaches you for not giving me a word limit, I always manage to write too much! I have learnt a lot from this analysis and think next year I am defiantly going to go and visit the Rallye Sunseeker! 

Thank you and goodnight....