Almost all the big companies involved in providing IT products and services has invested in creating there web presence. Here is a look at their websites, including the major flaws, their popularity and a look at the conformity to design standards.

1 – www.focuscomp.com , www.istore-focus.com

With a clean and elegant look, Focus computers presents its brochure site with a link to an exclusive online store for its customers. Easy navigation and detailed product information together with the ability to share some products through the social media makes it very rich in features. It has enabled the e-commerce facility for the registered customers. Sadly the developer has forgotten to have the check out/ buy  button. Meaning the products will stay in the cart forever. Both of the sites does not provide the contact number of the company. Anyone separately going into istore will have difficulties in identifying whom they are dealing with. As it does not provide any information about what the company is really about.

2 – www.megachiplive.com

Megachip have its corporate site with very simple look. Together with the corporate information it has showcased the awards, creating strong presence for their reputation and a reason to trust them. Browsing through the products, getting quotations and placing the orders is just a one click process. Besides the drivers of the major brands they sell can be downloaded to face lots of hassle, when ordering for more than one product.It has not enabled the e-commerce functions, so the customer has to send information over and over again.

3 – www.formaxcomputers.com

Formax computers come up with ecommerce website which is very appealing. Customization of the products page and Services like price comparison, and the total amount in the cart is very helpful. A very simple registration process, choice to apply for the discount coupons and many useful features like checking the orders have been included in the dashboard. The content editors have left the most important area with all dummy data. The customer service information and the policies are all meaningless.

4 – www.icon.com.mv

A brochure site that provides company information and its sucess stories. It allows to submit requests for the technical support.The site contents have been not uploaded making it all empty.

5 – www.villatechnologies.com.mv and www.naaring.mv

Villa technologies website provides links to various departments of the company. Difficult navigations and the links doesnot work with a very unpleasant colour scheme. Horrible color Naaring.mv presents the products that is sold by the Naaring shop. Navigating through the product list is easy but there are many design flaws in the overall design, empty links and never ending registration. A total makeover of in and out is recommended for both sites.

Popularity

The popularity of the website is ranked with the alexa traffic rank.

1. Formaxcomputers.com at 5,657,976 with 4 sites linking and is ranked in 255 within the country.
2. Megachiplive.com at 6,530,516 with 4 sites linking
3. Focuscomp.com at 8,278,510 with 3 sites linking, with focus istore at 17,688,895.
4. Icon.com.mv at 22,414,535 with 9 sites linking.
5. Villatechnologies.com.mv at 26,619,050 with 2 linking sites and nearing.mv at 26,613,006 with 2 sites linking

Standards- Compliance

A basic code validation check has been done for the sites and the results:

• Formaxcomputers.com 200 Errors, 16 warning(s)
• Megachiplive.com 3 Errors
• Focuscomp.com passed and focus-istore.com 63 Errors
• Icon.com.mv 1 Error
• Villatechnologies.com.mv 32 Errors, 6 warning(s) and nearing.mv 79 Errors, 133 warning(s).

It is possible to see that the developers and content editors have yet more to fix and update. Since the features and the nature of all the sites are not similar, it is not appropriate to make a comparison among the sites based on these results.

What can be said more?

Considering the design of the websites it is evident that majority of the websites have tried to adapt to the DELL design concept. Is it just appropriate to have such a big banner in the front? Well DELL even have localized their websites based on countries. The websites need to have a more distinguishing look, yet it should be in accordance with the skills level and culture.

All the sites have applied the traditional sales revenue model. Why can’t they move to the affiliate models especially when they have partners?

Very few websites have looked into the search optimization and marketability of the website.

The websites concept need not be from the technical people, but rather it has to come from the business people. They need to understand that web is not just a mass media, but it is based on a many to one model, where customer has lots of choices to make a decision within seconds. This basic understanding will help in coming up with a web which delivers more value to the customers and gives strategic advantage to the companies.

About Author: Aiesha Adnan: Aiesha is a researcher and a trainer in the ICT field who is currently pursuing a MSC in Technology Management. Twitter: @aieshas