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REVEALED: 90% Of Malaysian Business Websites Are Failures

Okay, "failures" might just be too strong a word, "ineffective" or "waste of money" could be more accurate, but we need to get the message across bluntly. Anyway, how did we come out with the figure of 90%? Rest assured it wasn't just plucked out of thin air.

We randomly chose 40 Malaysian business/company/corporate (small, medium & big businesses) websites from two sources, a top Malaysian business directory and a Malaysian job site [1st May, 2008]. After some evaluation, the conclusion is 36 out of the 40 websites are well below even basic standards. That's a whopping 90% money-wasting and ineffective websites.

We evaluated the websites' ability to:

• Pull visitors from search engines (is there even basic on-site search engine optimization?)
• Grab the attention of readers with persuasive/powerful headlines and convince them to continue reading

Elements that were checked: Home page title and descrtiption text, header text, eye-catching headlines and body text.

Out of the 36 underperforming websites, we've chosen 3 to be presented here as examples, with the issues listed out (the rest are more or less the same):

Site 1 - xxxxxxxxxxxx.com.my

• Page title not optimized -- displays only company name.
• No description tag.
• No attention grabbing headlines.
• Table based layout, instead of XHTML/CSS.

And this is the FIRST FEW WORDS of the body text: "We offering wide range of". Okay, granted most web design firms require you to prepare your own business details. But any web design firm worth its salt should at least be able to correct GLARING mistakes and protect the image of it's clients.

Even the most beautifully designed website will not be able to make up for such shortcomings.

And the irony is, the site is developed by a MSC Malaysia status (aka Multimedia Super Corridor) web services company. Scary huh? Well, so much for 'status'.

Site 2 - xxxxxxx.com.my

• Non-optimized page title and description -- displays just company name.
• The home page is filled with images, without any body text or header text.
• Table based layout used instead of XHTML/CSS.
• No eye-catching headlines.

Tips:

XHTML/CSS based layouts are preferred by search engines as the code is more accesible and uncluttered. Table-based layout design is "out-dated" and is not recommended anymore, yet still used by some.

Search engines CAN'T read text content inside images or Flash animations. They must be fed with relevant readable text content and keywords - especially the page title, page description and header text (how else will the search engine know what your site is all about?).

Also, if an Internet user happens to drop by your page, you need powerful headlines to grab his attention and convince him to continue reading.

Site 3 - xxxxxxxx.com.my

• Page title only displays company name XXX Sdn Bhd.
• Table based layout used instead of XHTML/CSS.
• No description tag and header text tags.
• No attention grabbing headlines.
• "Best viewing with 800 X 600 screen size and above" at the bottom of the page

Tips:

Any website with a "Best viewed with..." line is a POORLY conceived site. DO NOT even try to suggest to business prospects what screen to use or what web browser to use -- they may just go away (a clueless web designer may not understand this, but as a businessperson, you should know). A good design caters to all kinds of screens and web browsers.

Search engines put the most importance on the text within Title, Description and Header tags. These text contents can determine whether Internet users will be able to find your site through search engines. Never waste the title tag (and description, header tags) with worthless text.

Good news for you

Armed with the data and details presented here, you now know how to easily have your website perform better than 90% of the other Malaysian business/corporate websites.

For your convenience, here's the MINIMUM requirements for an effective business/corporate/brochure website:

• Optimized page title tags and description tags for all content pages [for search engines]
• Optimized header tags for all content pages [for search engines]
• Optimized body content for all content pages [for search engines]
• Web standards XHTML/CSS layout design (not table based design) [for search engines]
• At least one attention-grabbing headline. [for human readers]
• Doesn't have to be flashy, but at least not amateurish or garish(ugly). [for human readers]

Note: Fulfilling all the above criteria doesn't guarantee anything magical for your business -- but at least your website will have better search engine visibility and "pulling power" than your competitors, thus increasing your chances of attracting business prospects.

All details have been kept as simple as possible, but if you do have any questions, ask us anytime.

You may want to see a related article:
8 Things You MUST Know Before Hiring A Web Desginer