The new CA.com has retained its powerful “snacking” architecture but missed the Web 2.0 & social media memos

In case you haven’t noticed, CA.com recently launched a new site. As is our custom, we’ve delayed our deep-drive about six weeks to let the CA.com team find snafus and work out the bugs. Now it’s time to put the site through its paces. Here’s our Cliff’s Notes analysis: (siteIQ clients can read the complete analysis here. (log in required)

Pros

CA.com has retained its product marketing “snacking architecture,” which is one of the most powerful in the business. If you haven’t seen this in action, pick any CA product and follow the bouncing ball.

CA.com is one of few sites that know how to craft marketing content as a set of questions that speak to visitor objectives. If you need inspiration, CA.com is the place to start.

CA.com’s new design is consistent across the site; not many page owners missed the memo. CA.com is yet another example of the iterative design strategy we discussed in a recent post.

CA.com makes great use of tab-top organization on its product level pages (shades of Sun.com, yikes!). Overall, a tab-top tour de force.

Neutral

CA.com’s play on mega-menus brings it into the fold, but these menus are much less impressive than those deployed by Cisco.com and Juniper.net. Close, but no cigar.

Cons

CA.com just couldn’t resist the “eye candy” factor on its home page. In this case, it’s those revolving boxes that use type fonts that are a Mr. Magoo moment at any screen size – and whirl at the drop of a hat. Here, CA.com gets a B+ for visual impact – and D- for usability and relevance.

CA.com got hijacked on its way to the Web.2.0 ball. Although most videos are easily accessible, CA.com wraps its badly aging “On Demand” Webinars in draconian registration and access processes that will deter all but the most intrepid visitors. Let’s just say that CA.com gets a D- for its “on demand” promise.

This site pops more windows than a high rise in a hurricane. Most links pop a window without warning which, in turn, requires the visitor to stumble through their browser tabs to find the starting gate. Overall, a messy process and a very fractured experience.

Finally, no tour is complete without stepping through CA.com’s communities experience.  CA.com’s support-related communities are easily accessible and appear to be full of lively dialogs. Business communities? Not so much.

One reason might be the tortuous path visitors must take, which includes wading through an over-engineered “Second Life”-style destination packed with a talking head, downloadable brochures, and a link to the target community. Given the obstacles visitors must endure, it’s no surprise that CA.com’s fledgling business communities are the size of a newt (largest population is currently 42 members).

The Bottom Line

The new CA.com is a pretty new face that missed the memos on how to capitalize on Web 2.0 and social media marketing. Smart companies will study CA.com’s best-in-class product marketing click streams, and leave the rest to the marketing muses.

Tags: , , ,