Living in the Information Age: Your Business and Natural Search
After writing down the Chocolate Cottage’s address from Google Maps (See review from yesterday), I thought I’d do a quick search to find their website and find out what they offered in their shop. I first typed “www.chocolatecottage.com” in my browser and found a nearly blank page stating that this page “had been suspendedâ€. Hmm. Probaby a different business.
So I went to Google and typed “chocolate cottage†utah. The first item pulled up in the list was a WARNING LETTER (yes, in caps) from the Food and Drug Administration. I read the letter, and it was mostly regarding some technicalities on the labeling of their chocolates. They had labeled everything “dark chocolate†or “light chocolate†and apparently it was supposed to be “milk chocolate†and some other very minor things. But my point?  I’m big into user experience, as a graphic designer and UI designer, it’s part of my job. This experience would have scored an “F†for an online user experience. Even though they were easy to find online in an address directory, they had no web presence, and the first thing a natural search turned up for them gave me concerns me about the safety of their product. Even cute little Mom and Pop stores should be aware of how their business is percieved online.