Professional Websites for Printers

Research

What Print Buyers Want from Your Website

The PrinterPresence website program was developed as the result of extensive focus group research with printshop owners and print buyers from around the U.S. Here are the top ten directives from those sessions:

1. The home page must look clean and organized. Otherwise, I'll assume you don't care. All PrinterPresence front page design options have a professional, organized appearance.
2. Make it easy to navigate! The site includes easy-to-use pulldown menus on every page with simple, descriptive links. The PrinterPresence navigation system allows you to get from a given point to any other point on the site in three clicks or less.
3. I want lots of online resources. How about giving me suggestions on the best way to submit files and allow me to send files to you without major hassles? PrinterPresence sites have vast amounts of information listed in the Resources & Support section and the easy-to-use file transfer center.
4. Why do you list stuff only by departments? If I'm looking for information about brochures, do I look in copying, printing, or bindery? It seems to me that they all fit the bill and it's confusing. Help me find what I'm looking for. The site has a comprehensive Products and Services section, complete with descriptions that make it easy to find what you're looking for.
5. I want to hear back quickly when I e-mail a request for information. Utilize our email forwarding and autoreply option to ensure instant receipt of all important e-mail.
6. I want one place where I can find all of the information I need to do business with you. Can you put everything that's important to me on one page? The PrinterPresence system allows you to set up unlimited Customer Portals for the clients you designate.
7. I want to proof my jobs online. An online proofing system is included in the standard package.
8. When I was reading the description for your computer design department, I thought of a question and then had to dig for a while to find your e-mail address. Can't you let me send an e-mail from anywhere on the site? A direct link to your contact form is located on every page.
9. I enjoy reading about your employees. I'd rather see bios of them than read a letter from your owner. I don't give a damn about what the owner has to say. Employee biographies with accompanying photos can be customized by you or your staff. The letter from the owner is up to you.
10. Many websites I see are never updated. It's nice to see pages change every so often. Update the content once in a while. The "Hot Off The Press" feature highlights relevant news topics that are updated weekly by the PrinterPresence research team. The "In The Spotlight" component of the home page automatically rotates links to featured products, services, and departments.