It’s All About You: What Gen Y Sees in Your Website
Where is the first place Gen Y turns to understand more about you and your company? Your website. It may seem we’ve discussed this issue quite a bit on GenYNetworking.com, but a company’s online presence is vital to attracting new talent and projecting your online face to customers.
So, if your website is all about you and what services you provide, what does yours say? While I’ll leave the more design-driven details to graphic design professionals, I do want to give you two resources that will give you some great ideas to incorporate on your own website.
First, The Webbys. Started in 1996, the awards recognize the best in websites, advertising, online film and video. They have two winners in each category, The Webby Awards and The People’s Voice Award and categories cover most industries, from automotive to tourism. This year, they are honoring more than 100 award recipients.
The second is the Mashable Open Web Awards. In it’s third year, Mashable received more than 440,000 entries and winners are chosen by the public. They have more awards focused on social media, but they separate out “Top Website” honors into categories for various industries and sizes of corporations.
From the winners of these awards, here are some of the best practices you can use for your own website to best communicate and pull in Gen Y users:
- Make searching easy
If a Gen Y user can’t find something very easily on your website, they will generally try to use your search engine once and then veer off to another site. Hulu’s search is incredibly effective and produces well-organized results. Many companies’ search engines will auto-populate a large number of responses, most of which include a long description that may not seem to relate to the search terms. Hulu gives you the show that you do want to see, along with clips that are relevant. - Make your mission concise and easily visible on the home page
Gen Y wants to know who you are and what you’re all about, and they’re used to learning that information in 140-characters or less. Teenage Cancer Trust, a nonprofit organization, does a great job of this. In fact, their mission statement is the second place your eyeballs track to, after you see the main image on their main page. A succicint mission statement or brand motto will make the Gen Y’er want to learn more. - Tell what others say about your company
Gen Y’ers may believe what you have to say, but they also want to hear it from others as well. Mint, a free, online personal finance software, speaks to it’s customers through the quotes of previously satisfied clients. They also have great snippets from press on their homepage as well, something that is typically buried in a Media section of a company’s website. Testimonials are also very important when hiring new Gen Y talent – they want to know why others love working for you.
For more resources on award-winning websites that are rated high on search engine optimization, check out these links:
Weekly Poll
About the Author
Amy Liz Martin is a PR professional whose work centers on social media, media relations, corporate relations, publicity and cause-related PR campaigns. Amy was a fundraiser and event communications chair for the American Cancer Society, ran small development and communications campaigns for the International Center for Journalists, and led social media publicity efforts for artists at EMI CMG Label Group. She earned her master's degree in mass communications/public relations at Louisiana State University and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America.
