Rate My Website: LIVE Website Rating

Dec 14, 2020 | Events, Real Marketer's Perspective, Resources

On November 17, Cybersecurity Marketing Society held its long-awaited “Rate My Cybersecurity Website” LIVE website rating!

Craig Goodwin, former CISO and current Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Cyvatar, and Alyssa Miller, hacker, researcher, cybersecurity advocate, and advisor, joined Aileen Casmano in rating four company websites.

Goodwin started off his cybersecurity career working in security services for the UK government. He spent the last 20 years working as a CISO and co-founded Cyvatar in the last year. Miller is an applications security advocate for Snyk and has 15 years of cybersecurity experience.

Each company’s website was evaluated on 5 different categories: 

  1. Accessibility: if the site is easy to navigate
  2. Imagery: use of brand logo and stock pictures
  3. Identity: what the company does and how that is communicated
  4. Content: thought leadership, free content, and more
  5. Conversion points: if there are clear, persuasive paths to conversion

The judging team shared their suggestions on how to make these companies’ websites even better than they already are!

The full video is below, but we’ve also recapped key highlights of the event.

Curricula

Curricula is a cybersecurity awareness training platform that makes training fun.

What Stood Out:

  • Curricula’s website clearly stated what the company does because the statement “We Make Security Awareness Training FUN” is one of the first things that visitors see.
  • The site is easy to navigate.
  • Curricula’s imagery captivates the audience, specifically the video on the homepage that directly shows what the company’s product entails. 
  • The company’s cartoonish, playful identity stands out. 
  • The pricing page shows a side-by-side comparison of its plans and a slider bar where visitors can identify the size of their companies. These features emphasize transparency and simplicity, which are crucial.

What Can Be Improved:

  • The navigation menu and menu appear smaller on larger screens.
  • The initial pop-up covers most of the website, which then distracts the user. Pop-ups should be small and easy to get around.
  • The homepage contains so much content that the visitor ends up scrolling for a long time. By consolidating content, companies can keep their homepage brief. 
  • Curricula’s blog content focuses more on marketing and product news rather than thought leadership that lends credibility. The blog should act as a quick opportunity to share security awareness topics and help people do their research.

Keeper

Keeper is a secure password storage and sharing platform.

What Stood Out:

  • The website does a great job of expressing what the company does using product screenshots.
  • There are many CTAs not only from the navigation bar but within the content as visitors scroll through the website.
  • The image of the Keeper dashboard is interesting and eye-catching.
  • The search bar on the blog page helps visitors easily find content.

What Can Be Improved:

  • The homepage contains a lot of open space, which can lead to a lot of scrolling.
  • When hovering over the menu items, there is a lot of text that can be distracting and overwhelming.
  • Important links, such as the blog and product information, are at the footer of the site rather than the main navigation bar, making them hard to find.
  • The main navigation links are more focused on conversions.
  • Although Keeper services personal and enterprise customers, the site feels focused on B2B customers.
  • The stock pictures on the blog are very stereotypical, especially the image of the hacker in a sweatshirt.

SCADAfence

SCADAfence is an OT& iOT cybersecurity defense company.

What Stood Out:

  • The “old-school” style of the site works for the customers the company serves.
  • The resource library is comprehensive and contains tons of useful information, including case studies and thought leadership. 
  • The resource library contains several types of media, and the content resonates with the target audience.
  • The imagery for the blog stands out because they’re not typical stock images.

What Needs Improvement:

  • The homepage doesn’t have a lot of info about what SCADAfence does for customers because there is a lot of information about awards.
  • There is a lot of information on the homepage.
  • The font size on the homepage doesn’t fit in cohesively with the rest of the content.
  • Not all customers want a demo because they might be in the research phase, so other CTAs like contacting the company could be helpful.

Hurricane Labs

Hurricane Labs is a managed security services company focused on Splunk.

What Stood Out:

  • Hurricane Labs’ logo is a refreshing logo for a cybersecurity company.
  • The website has a clean look, and the content is easy to consume.
  • The blog page has great content. Other content such as tutorials and podcasts are helpful.
  • The search bar helps visitors easily find content.

What Needs Improvement:

  • The organization of the homepage is random and doesn’t have a clear purpose.
  • The images and sections of the homepage aren’t cohesive.
  • The ‘Our Story’ page could contain more information about the story of the company.
  • Make a ‘Contact Us’ button for a clear CTA.

Additional Tips and Tricks

What Makes a Good Cybersecurity Graphic?

Many people don’t know what kinds of stock images to use on their sites. Miller encouraged people to “find pictures that match the solution or problem you’re trying to fill. ”That way, the images serve a real purpose. You can also use pictures from your own product or service.

Other Sites that Cybersecurity Marketers Can Look Up To

When asked about an example of an admirable B2C site, Goodwin mentioned Stitch Fix because it maintains a fun conversational tone. He said, “The balance has got to be right between goofy enough and different enough, but still maintain that professionalism.” Your site needs to attract people and get them to interact with you.

What If I Am Marketing to a Consumer and a Business Buyer?

If your company targets customers who want to use your product on a personal level and enterprise customers, Miller advised to make the split early on in the visitor journey to the site. This makes it easiest to arrange content and provide a customized site experience for people with different problems.

If you want to learn more about revamping your cybersecurity website, watch the recap here. Want to submit your own site? Send an email with “RATE MY WEBSITE” in the subject line to heythere (at) cybersecuritymarketingsociety.com. Follow Cybersecurity Marketing Society on LinkedIn and Twitter for more exciting upcoming events.