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By still designing for themselves rather than for their customers, they place serious barriers in the way of prospects who use the Web to discover companies to put on their shortlists," said Jakob Nielsen, co-founder and principal of Nielsen Norman Group. "They haven't realized yet that the Web has reversed the relationship between companies and their customers, where most interactions are demand-driven and you either give people what they want or see them abandon your site for the competition."

Nielsen Norman Group employed three different research methodologies to gain a deep understanding of the complex issues involved in B2B websites. To begin, researchers conducted 12 focus groups to understand the range of purchase processes that businesses use and what they want from B2B sites. Next, user testing involved the observation of 55 business professionals using nearly 200 B2B sites to see what users do and expect on B2B sites. Finally, field studies at seven companies allowed researchers to add to their study a contextual observation of users' work in their natural environment.

The empirical evidence collected by Nielsen Norman Group about the behavior, needs and preferences of business users/buyers revealed the following:

Bad website design causes people to downgrade their perception of a company. Notable among the elements of bad design and the resulting perceptions include: 1) incomplete product description, which creates skepticism; 2) overwhelming and convoluted content, which creates confusion; 3) convoluted navigational structure, which causes prospects to lose patience; and 4) pushy marketing tactics, which cause annoyance and distrust.

Lack of any kind of pricing information is a major problem. The most user-hostile element of most B2B websites is the lack of pricing information. It is the one thing that customers say they want the most and instead get the least often. At the minimum, providing pricing levels, if not exact prices, will help move the sales process forward.

The B2B tactic of requiring people to fill out registration forms can be a lead killer.

It is a common practice on B2B sites to make users register before providing them with deeper information. This practice can send sales prospects running. Nielsen Norman Group recommends placing more information outside the barrier, making it available to customers during their initial research. Companies need to build up credibility before people are willing to give out their contact information. They know it will result in a sales call, so they want first to make sure the vendor has what they want.

"The good news out of our research is that most B2B websites can dramatically increase their business value and lead-generation function simply by following more usability guidelines and turning themselves into more supportive environments," said co-author Hoa Loranger, user experience specialist at Nielsen Norman Group, "It's time for B2B sites to upgrade the level of user experience to that which has long been offered on B2C sites."