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How To Design Your Website For Optimal Productivity
By Alan Richardson, Mon Dec 26th
What works best when promoting your web site. Eight Simple, Yet Essential, Web Design Principles As the internet evolves from its infancy into maturity, websitedevelopment, design and marketing becomes more and moresophisticated - and more and more complex. Content manipulation,various scripting methods, fancy graphics and effects... and onand on... allow us to create some impressive web sites.
A good gauge of this complexity is the a slew of newinternet-related acronyms which popup on a consistent basis.Heck, I don't know what half of them mean. But one acronym I doknow - and it's not an internet - is nevertheless keyto the development and design of any successful businesswebsite. Perhaps you've heard of it - K.I.S.S. As you probablyknow, it stands for 'Keep It Simple, Stupid!'. And it's amethodology widely employed by the best web developers,designers and marketers in the business. A philosophy thatprovides the foundation for all successful revenue-generatingweb sites. From the largest, multi-product online business conglomerate tothe one-page one-product mini-site, the purpose is the same.Provide visitors, whether internet savvy or first time surfers,with an online experience that's fast, efficient, easy tounderstand - and dare I say it... yes, enjoyable. Whether your an entrepreneur building your own web site, orreviewing one built for you by a web development and designexpert, it is important your web site, your online business,adheres to these eight simple, yet essential, design principles.Heed them, and online success is sure to follow. Ignore them, atyour peril. Here they are. Each web page must have a purpose - and that purpose must beclearly stated. While a consistent design 'look and feel' isvital across all pages of your web site, each page has aspecific function to perform. And that function should beclearly understood by all visitors to your web site. Whetherit's to elicit feedback, provide feedback, promote your company,present product information, etc., all play a role in yourultimate goal of growing your business. Navigation around and through your business web site must beclearly visible and easy to use. See my article on web sitenavigation for more details. Avoid distraction and clutter by minimizing usage of fancyflashing and moving objects, which provide more sizzle thansteak, and make your essential products or services harder tofind. All business websites should have contact information clearlyvisible. A 'Contact' page is minimum. It's also advisable toinclude contact information on every page of your web site. Younever know when the urge to turn from prospect
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to customer willstrike your visitor. Not everyone has broadband. Yes, there are still a fair numberof users surfing the internet with slower, less efficient,dial-up access. That may change in the future, but it's areality today. Ignore this substantial customer base and you'rebusiness will surely suffer. To avoid this pitfall, pay carefulattention to eliminate internet-clogging elements on your website. When possible, use text instead of graphics, staticgraphics instead of animation, several smaller pages instead ofone large page. Do this and you can feed quite well on thedesertions from your flashier competitors. For those who are broadband users, who are not negativelyeffected by all those 'bells and whistles', who may actuallyenjoy such an impressive display, remember, 'form followsfunction'. This is especially important on a business web site,where functionality is key. All else is fluff and distraction. For those of us who may be 'visually challenged, make sure yourweb site is easy to see. Avoid fancy fonts and use the morelegible standard-bearers, such as Times New Roman, Courier New,Arial and Verdana. For standard text, use font sizes of at least10 pt... 12 pt is better. On many a web site, font sizes of 8 ptor less are used, perhaps in an effort to avoid the need toscroll. Let me tell you... it's much better to scroll than tosquint. For when I squint, I usually stroll... right out of thesite. It's also a good practice to limit the use of italics asthey too are harder to read. Lastly, pay attention to text andbackground color. Although white text on a black backgroundlooks cool at first glance, it can quickly strain the eyes. Youdon't want to do anything that will cut your visitor's journeythrough your business web site.. Whenever possible, limit page lengths to no more than twopage-downs. It is better for performance (page loading) andvisitor attention when pages are short, quick reads. Ifnecessary, breakup your text into multiple pages, with a'continued' designation at the bottom of each page. There you go. Eight simple, yet essential, web site designprinciples that can spell the difference between online businesssuccess or failure. Always remember, you're never more thanone-click away from visitor abandonment. K.I.S.S. your websiteand it will reward you abundantly.
About the author:Alan Richardson is a well-known internet consultant andpublisher with http://www.optimalwebservices.com - a Webresource firm in North Easton, Massachusetts, offering freeadvice and information for web-based small businesses andentrepreneurs. To read other articles by Alan, clickhttp://www.optimalwebservices.com/articles To signup for the free 'Optimal Web Services for Small Business'ezine, click http://www.optimalwebservices.
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