Does Your Event Web Site Display Properly?
On Wednesday a friend called me up and asked me to check over their event web site. Over the last week they spent several hours updating their new web site and wanted a fresh set of eyes to look their web site over.
At first glance things looked pretty good. Then they asked me to “Look at some of the other pages.” That’s when we discovered a BIG problem . . . there was no navigation bar on my screen.
On my friend’s computer the navigation bar was showing up. So I asked him, “What browser are you using?” He said “Internet Explorer.” I was using Mozilla Firefox. The reason no web navigation was showing up on my computer screen was a browser compatibility issue.
A Completely Blank Page
A few years ago an event web site I was working on displayed properly in Firefox, yet was completely blank page in Internet Explorer. You don’t want that to happen when your money is on the line. It’s imperative that you make sure your web site works on the most common browsers. A few lines of code or a piece of multimedia technology could prevent a lot of people from being able to view your web site.
Browser problems usually creep up after a web site redesign. When the code on which the site is build is modified, check to make sure your web site displays properly.
Check in These Browsers
You need to make sure that your event web site works in the most common web browsers. These include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera on the Mac and PC. Keep in mind that not everyone has the most up to date browser versions. You probably want to go back a version or two. The recommendation above should cover about 99% of the people visiting your web site. Depending on your target market you might want to consider creating a mobile version of your web site.
Here is a great web service you can use (for FREE) to check that your event web site is displaying properly on the most common browsers:
Aim for 98-98%
Don’t kill yourself testing your web site to ensure 100% browser compatibility. Experts recommend it, but from a practicality standpoint it’s extremely difficult to implement. It’s much more effective to make sure your web site displays properly 98%-99% of the time.
The information above might seem trivial . . . But when you’re spending big bucks on advertising and marketing for your event it can make all the difference. Take a few extra minutes to make sure the event web site you’re directing people to actually works.
Comments