D&S Auto of Kent CT, built a website them selves in 2003 to showcase the used cars they often received when the owners decided not to repair the car but to sell it and get a new one.
No one used the site to find the cars the cars sold but that was due to people seeing them on the street outside the shop.
D&S Auto came to intelihosts.com asking us to optimize the site to improve traffic and to make it easier for them to put pictures of the used cars on the site (and take them off when they sold)
We re-designed the site http://www.dandsautosales.com/ using key words and phrases that spoke to persons who would be looking for used cars. In addition, we incorporated an optimized photo gallery; that allowed the search engines to pick up on words like car make and model from the gallery of cars for sale.
Now more than half of the cars that they sell are website referrals. The site is optimized effectively and they are selling cars to a wider audience. Recently a car was sold to a man in Ohio, who saw a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser on the D&S web site, took a bus to Connecticut and drove his new car back to Ohio!!!
Last month 4 out 4 cars sold were a direct result of the web site!! It is important to get found.
Small site BIG RESULTS!!!

Usability Testing As easy as 1, 2, and 3:
When building interactive Web sites or software applications, the success of our work is not based solely on marketing strategy and design. The real challenge is providing Web customers with clarity, control and satisfaction. The only real way to ensure understanding and ease of use is to watch customers use your site otherwise known as usability testing, a one-on-one test during which you give participants tasks to perform on your site. As you observe them using the site, you gain understanding from their confusion. In most cases, I see usability testing being treated as a low priority. This usually happens due to either the high cost of formal usability testing in a lab or the time it takes to conduct the tests. So how does one perform usability testing without investing a large amount of time and expense into the project? That's where an Intelihosts.com Smart Ux solution comes in; now you can use Smart Ux and not cut corners, you can conduct your usability tests without the hassle and expense by using the Smart Ux solution and identify the major issues. To simplify the process, I am going to break it down into three areas:
1. Identify the tasks and location.
2. Determine the schedule and confirm participants.
3. Conduct the tests....GET RESULTS!!!

identifying the tasks and location:

Identify a specific task(s) that a user might accomplish on your site. Traditionally, this is a very long process involving user personas and task analysis. This could be a basic task such as finding specific information or an interactive process such as purchasing a product, or signing up for a contest or newsletter. Think about what goals or motivations people have when coming to your site, and make a list. From that list choose four or five main tasks that have the most impact on your site. Another means of determining what to test for is to review your customer service complaint logs for issues that customers calling in or e-mailing to you. If you have an e-commerce site, the list might include locating desired products, purchasing the products and viewing the order status and order confirmation. Once you select the tasks, we create a very basic outline script for the test. Each person we test individually will follow the same script. All that Smart Ux requires is an average computer in a comfortable environment. You could use a spare office where you setup a computer with a comfortable chair and desk. Professional office space is always best so keep that in mind when selecting the location. Once you have created a script and selected location it is time to find your participants.

Find your participants:

Traditionally, this stage involves in-depth user definitions and recruitment. In most cases, an outside recruitment firm is hired to find the participants. Once found, potential participants must be screened to target the desired audience. Your best recruitment is to ask current customers to help you improve your site. If you already have a site, you can randomly ask site visitors whether they want to come to your location to participate in your tests. If it is possible to easily find people close to your targeted demographic, then it will produce better results. Smart Ux can screen and recruit off your site for visitors or we can use our database to find the appropriate demographic. The participants should not be familiar with the material you will be testing. It is standard to offer each participant some compensation for their time. This is usually around $25-$30 or a comparable valued gift. Once we've identified your participants, we create a schedule and offer available time slots. Each test will take about 45 minutes, so we leave about an hour for each test. This allows flexibility if someone arrives late or if the test runs longer than expected. Because IH Smart Ux takes the lab to the respondent you can conduct the tests at your convenience a popular option is setting up time at trade shows and conventions and using Hotel office space that is often available to convention participants at no additional cost.

Conduct the test:

Conducting the test should be very casual and comfortable for both you and the participant. A traditional formal test would normally include an interviewer/moderator to conduct the test and a note-taker to record the findings. There would also be live video and audio recording equipment monitoring the computer screen and participant. In most cases, a few people would observe behind a one-way mirror. With Smart Ux by Intelihosts.com all you need is an IH technician with a laptop. The technician is the interviewer and the software allows him/her to take notes as the respondent navigates the site while the software records all the important keystroke, mouse clicks, time on task, facial expression picture of respondent, even URL changes etc. In addition our remote access viewer allows you to view in real time while the test is being conducted from the comfort of your office no more two way mirrors. Our new approach dramatically reduces the cost by $8-10K a session. Your IH technician will prepare the discussion guide, conduct the interviews and write the analysis. You get a complete written analysis along with a CD of highlights from the interviews that show first hand any obstacles visitors come across. The test should emulate a real-world example, as close as you can get it. If the participant encounters a complete dead-end and can't recover, it is OK to get him back on track. As the participant runs into problems, we note the findings in as much detail as possible. Review your findings An in-depth review, analysis and deliverable report are the result of a Smart Ux test. This would include a detailed report of the findings and possibly suggestions on how to improve the issues that were identified. All we need to know is what went wrong and where the participants ran into problems. This way, you have somewhere to start when revising your site. After all the tests have been completed, we combine the notes and create a document of all the problems that were found. With the IH Smart Ux solution we review each session while writing the analysis we see the respondent and each keystroke is timed so that time on task analysis can be done. Since usability testing only makes you aware of the problems, the next step is finding the proper solutions to fix the problem identified. When working on larger interactive Web sites, test multiple times after you have made adjustments. (But don't test too much!)

Usability testing may not be considered a mandatory stage in the design process, but without it you are releasing the product blindly. Usability testing is well known and widely used in traditional software and highly interactive Web sites. As more people understand the impact it has on producing results, it will become a standard step of the design process. Just remember that you don't need a large budget for simple usability testing call today to set up your Smart Ux test 866-238-9451