Today I was searching for a particular event on a very large national site. I searched a 10-day timeframe in July 2009. I understand that it’s only November 2008, but I found the auto response a wee bit passive aggressive …
Perhaps I was being a little optimistic I’d find information this far out, but I didn’t think I was being unreasonable. While I’m sure whoever penned this line meant nothing negative by it, it’s a good reminder to make sure the tonality of your site copy remains consistently positive and helpful.
More importantly, in this instance there was no clear path to move me forward from this page. Offering a link to last year’s event, other relative content or a chance to revise my search dates would have been more proactive than the response alone.
Ask yourself, if a customer asked you for information face-to-face, would you answer the same way your site does?
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Unfortunately, I think that, often, those small bits of “developer copy” get left behind. No one knows that they’re there except for their developer, and he or she often doesn’t think it matters that much. I suppose it’s a lesson to 1) plan as much as you can and 2) test extensively.