2009 :
Questions for Myself... Questions without Answers. ...
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2009 --
After 2009
... SummaryNotes
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DESIGN THE FORMSThere are many important advantages in using Web based forms to gather visitor feedback.
you can categorize the feedback into distinct groups e.g. one form for questions, one for site suggestions and one for navigation problems
you can ask for all the information you think is relevant. By making some fields in the form mandatory, you can ensure a minimum level of data is collected from each feedback message
you can validate data and prevent errors like typographic mistakes and incompletely filled data fields being entered into your form by using basic Javascript. For instance, the Web form can ensure that an eMail address is in the proper format e.g. abc @ xyz.com
you control the way feedback is offered by setting up YES/NO options or offering multiple choices from which the visitor selects one, and this allows easier grouping of the data and addition to a database, as well as ensuring that no important piece of information is missing.
The data entered into forms can be automatically imported into a database for later retrieval and searching
Here are some tips for designing your Web based forms:
Use separate forms for each major category of feedback. For instance, use one form for visitor comments, praise and criticism, another one for them to ask questions and a third one to let them submit site suggestions.
Keep the forms down to a limited size. Don't ask for irrelevant data. Offer simple choices - check boxes to select, or radio buttons to click.
Make some fields mandatory, like the visitor's name and eMail address. This allows you to generate a personalized reply by eMail from the form data, and gives you a way to contact them later on.
Use scripts to add inputted data to a database, generate an eMail copy of the information to you, and take the visitor to a specified section of your Website after filling up the form.
PREPARE THE AUTORESPONDER MESSAGES
For each category of feedback, define the most appropriate answers and create a generic message which you'll use to reply to the visitor. As discussed earlier, this may be a single common message to respond to user praise or criticism, or to site suggestions.
Or it may involve answering the most frequent queries - 5, 10 or even 50. To do this, you would create a separate section of FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (or FAQ) which contains the answers. The FAQ must be frequently updated and expanded to include newer questions and information.
For advertising and sponsorship queries, you could create an online Media Kit that contains all material relevant to an advertiser - traffic, visitor count, demographic data, page views, rates, nature of ads, payment options, discounts and more.
If a visitor writes about navigation difficulties, you'll need to respond with a list of the probable causes - server downtime, changed file names, slow Internet connections, incompatible browsers - and also suggest ways to overcome them. For instance, you could
direct the user to a SEARCH page within your site to look for the new location of the Webpage
request him to try after some time when the server is functional again
invite them to send you eMail for help
In all cases it is best to create these messages in two formats:
a Webpage
an eMail message
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