Bend It Like Beckham

If you have not watched this movie, the moral is that every Midfielder wished they could bend a football into the net or at the feet of a striker, like David Beckham. Question is, “Is this the only way to play winning football?” With this same thought, many Zimbabwean enterprises have adopted styles, structures, and content that they have not engineered, but copied. There is nothing wrong with copying, except when it limits an enterprise to unleash the greatness within them – thumbs up to Milton Kamwendo, on this subject.

Beautiful Graphics
Many websites in Zimbabwe are “very beautiful”, flamboyant, fully animated, and intriguingly spectacular. Are they successful? I know of a manufacturer whose website I have been trying to open for the past three years. No matter where I access the Internet, I have never seen their website. It has music in the background, and an opening count which reaches 100% but never opens. I tell you the truth, it is better to publish such a website as a .com rather than a .co.zw.

When designing a website to be accessed by Zimbabweans, one ought to consider the issues we discussed earlier; consumers do not have patience. Considering the state of our telecoms networks, animated websites do not go down well, unless they are conservatively built. Remember the Google.com and Msn.com comparison.

Corporate Image Only!
Have you noticed that many websites in Zimbabwe are corporate image websites only? There is more talk of the company than its products. It is good to have a corporate site; but it is not all. Many enterprises just want to have a presence on the Internet. There is more!

Your image is good, but do not end there. Present yourself in a manner that web consumers will not be offended or deem you pompous. This may cause a reduced frequency in the number of visitors. I know of enterprises in Zimbabwe, which have good products, yet talk more of the corporate image than their products on their website. This is terrible.

No Content and Poor Content
At one extreme there are websites without any content, yet owned by flamboyant enterprises. Sorry for picking on listed companies, it is just that they represent us in globally. Many of the listed companies do not have content on their websites. Try their websites for yourself. Compare with the amount of content they put into TV and Print platforms.

It is not good to put too much attention on TV and Print, at the expense of your website, which is the first point of call, both locally and internationally. It is advisable to keep a balance.

On the other extremes there are those with poor content. There is no excuse to publish insufficient information about an enterprise or its products, on the Internet. Enterprises usually publish poor content when they rush the process – they just want something online. I was once told, taking a wife is easy; but keeping her is hard work that bares much fruit. The secret is in preparation. If you are not committed to manage the content (or hire content managers, such as ourselves or those who built your website), do not publish one at all.

The greatest success story in regards to poor content, I can give you, is the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange website (Zse.co.zw). For many years this website had nothing but contact details, and brief profiles. It was not enough, even as a contact detail website. I spent about two years visiting it after three month intervals, and downloading a copy of each page possible. I tried to imagine how it will be viewed by investors outside Zimbabwe. It was not good.

I am proud to announce that this is no more. The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange website is now one of the most content rich sites, which is updated everyday. Thumbs up to the Publishers of this website, and more so for the ZSE, who have taken time to change their image, and strategy on the Internet. Access it, and see for yourself. It is not only beautiful, but it is sound, fast, and content rich.