We’re an intrepid band of Website evaluators, analysts, and professional nitpickers who burn the midnight oil evaluating Websites using best practice benchmarks — and show our clients how to clobber their competitors on the Web.
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Some companies evaluate cars & toasters. We evaluate Websites.Once upon a time, we were Website designers burning the midnight oil to create really cool Websites for our technology clients. One day, a very smart client asked us three “million-dollar” questions.
- How well does my Website stack up against my competitors and the best sites in my business?
- What do I need to fix and who does it best?
- Which companies should my team watch and what new requirements should I budget for over the next 18 months?
We thought these questions were so important that we did four things:
- Built a best practices benchmark that identifies the 1,200 types of content, features & capabilities delivered on the largest & most successful IT Websites. Then we organized all of the pieces into 18 categories that represent the main areas of your Website.
- Created 120 usability questions that measure how well Websites achieve visitor and business objectives;
- Launched the siteIQ eBusiness Index, an ongoing project that tracks, evaluates & audits the Websites operated by leading technology companies twice a year. We rank and rate them based on their evaluation results. Identify innovations. Put them through their usability paces. Identify what they do well—and where they need to go back to the drawing board;
- Bagged our design jobs and started siteIQ to focus on Website best practices—and evaluate, rank and rate IT Websites. Since 2000, our metrics have become the standard Fortune 500 Web teams use to measure their site’s industry and competitive performance. (It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.)
But enough about us—let’s talk about you
What can you do with siteIQ?
- Lead your teams (and impress your boss) with brilliant ideas & strategies from the best sites on the IT Web;
- Get the inside scoop on the innovations that will change your life next year;
- Compare your Website to competitors—and create a detailed plan to meet, beat—or take your competitors to the cleaners; and
- Educate your executives, stakeholders & agency partners about your site’s competitive strengths & challenges—and gain consensus (ok, selective buy in) about what to do over the next 18 months.
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We focus on the business of the Web.
You know. Those B2B buyers that your business executives and sales force want to reach. The consumers streaming into your ecommerce systems. The marketing, lead harvesting, and after-sale behaviors that hit the bottom line.
We believe in doing our homework.
That’s why we sponsor the siteIQ eBusiness Index that tracks, evaluates & audits the most usable and effective Websites in the computer industry.
We’ve been pretty busy over the last 15 years. Since 1995, we’ve evaluated over 3,500 Websites—and have over 25 quarters of trailing data in our systems that give us the inside track on the designs, features & trends that matter.
We love what we do, and we have amazing customers who build amazing Websites. Here’s how we help.
- Our best practice case studies identify and profile new best practices and moments of brilliance that keep our clients ahead of the curve;
- “Before & after” Website evaluations deliver the facts teams need to prove that all of their hard work is paying off.
- Our detailed reports give teams the information they need to scope out the competition — define real requirements — gain stakeholder consensus — and create Websites that compete with the best in the business;
- Our clients use quarterly briefings to see the big picture. New trends & strategies that are changing the rules. A forum to pose questions — test assumptions — and explore opportunities & risks.
Of course, the proof is always in the pudding. Contact us to see what we can do for you and your Website.
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Everybody’s got an opinion
Don’t you hate all of that unsolicited advice you get around the water cooler? Comparisons with Websites that don’t matter? Feature requests you don’t have the time, budget — or the need to do?
We feel your pain.
Opinions are good. Facts are better.
Our clients use our best practice case studies, detailed reports, and custom Website evaluations to get the facts they need to fight the water cooler wars.
- You’ll love using our best practice case studies to keep up with new designs & moments of brilliance that are rolling out from the industry’s smartest Web teams. (Think of them as a way to stay ahead of the game without doing all of the heavy lifting.)
- Rely on our reports to plan your next update – and make sure it achieves your visitor’s expectations and needs. (You can pick & purchase the reports you need online — or subscribe to the Library and save a boatload of money.)
- Tout your team’s success when siteIQ’s “before & after” evaluations show how and where all of your hard work & investments paid off. (We’ll even tell you what’s still broken.)
- Eliminate headaches & hassles by educating your executives and stakeholders about what your company needs to do to be competitive on the Web. (Since a picture’s worth a thousand words, all of our reports are packed full of graphs.)
To fight your own water cooler wars, check out our case studies library, detailed reports and custom evaluations – or contact us to see what we can do for you and your Website. -
Marty Gruhn
General Manager
I love strategy and competitive gambits . . . and how the Web changes business, marketing, and selling models. My job is to connect the dots. Track when innovations hit the tipping point. Identify new strategies and capabilities that are changing the rules of the game.
Want to learn more about Marty? Check out her info here:
See Marty’s LinkedIn Profile
Follow Marty on Twitter
Kenna Dian
Director, Best Practices Case Studies
Kenna focuses on Website best practices, and shows Web teams how to tap into — and learn from — companies building the most effective and usable sites on the Web. State of the art designs, click streams, and behaviors. Product, services, & solutions marketing best practices. Advanced search and navigation techniques. Support and training zones that set the standards. Web 2.0, Web 3.0, and social media best practices.
See Kenna’s LinkedIn Profile
Follow Kenna on Twitter
Chat with Kenna on Google+
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The Web is nothing, if not a moving target. That means the results in our reports are based upon information we believe to be accurate and reliable when we publish it. The opinions we express reflect our judgment when we wrote the report and might change in the future.
You can make up to 5 attributed (that means our name must be on the graphs) copies or slides of each figure in any siteIQ report report and you can share the information within your team. Sharing the report with all of your friends, everyone in your company, publishing it on the Web, or slipping it to all of your agencies for free is strictly prohibited. If you want to “Like It” on Facebook, or Tweet results to your followers, we are happy campers. For additional reproduction rights and usage information, ask for a dispensation at info@siteiq.net.
The siteIQ Website Best Practices Group (that’s us) is an independent research company that conducts detailed Website benchmark evaluations and provides expert analysis of Website best practices, trends, and requirements in the IT industry. Our clients use our best practices case studies, reports, and custom Website assessment programs to clobber their competitors and establish leadership on the Web. For more information about our reports and subscriptions, spend some quality time on our site. If you stumble onto our blog, remember to leave a comment.
Trademarked names used in our reports (and on our Website) are the property of their respective companies. Screen shots of publicly available Websites are for illustrative purposes only. We never publish screen shots of private or entitled Websites. After all, these sites are private for a reason.
