By Lucy Esteves – Team Bayshore

Writing a blog posting isn’t the easiest thing to do. So when I was asked to participate I started thinking about what I would want to read, and the questions that I want to know the answer to.

So here it is… Where do you draw the line between a fully optimized site and user functionality?

Since I am a project manager I focus on the client’s needs. So during my first meeting I try to understand their goals and try to mold the project from there. But there are still so many things to consider.

Think of it this way, if you searched for a site and the “ideal” site appeared in the search results, it matched your criteria perfectly. Then, you click on the link and you find yourself on a site that is not user friendly or functioning the way you need it to. Do you leave the site? Do you stay because it is perfectly optimized?

My overall opinion would be to draw the line somewhere but the line is grey and not always in the same place. Make sure that your site is attractive to your audience; if you are selling widgets give them widgets on the homepage. Search Engine Optimization will only get you so far and then the design and functionality will take over. It’s a complete package that needs careful consideration and site architecture to figure out. I have to say that the internet professionals that I work with have some great ideas and can sometimes enhance the feature/functionality as well as bode well for the search engines.

Don’t limit your input to just the internet experts either, great ideas can come from all of your team members, the ideas just need an expert to translate them into something that is relevant and executable.