Website Design Tips
The following article is from Ultimate Site Promotions
A Well Designed Website
There are many elements that a well designed, successful site will have.
The most important element of a successful site, is of course the layout and design of the pages. It must load fast, be laid out well, easy to read and navigate, etc.
If your site is a personal site, you can pretty much get as creative with your background and graphics as you like.
If your site is for business purposes, it is best to go easy on the background and graphics. You don't want loud colors, blinking text, graphics that distract and take days to download, or anything else that makes the site hard for the visitor to use. If the site takes too long to load, or it is hard on the visitors eyes, they will hit the back button fast!
As for colors, white is the best background to use for business sites that have a lot of textual content. Dark backgrounds, or textured backgrounds make the text hard on the eyes.
Remember the first lesson...your website is your online store. Your offline store would be clean and well organized. Your customer would probably be able to find products that they want easily..there would be signs above the isles telling them what is down that isle. You would also be available to help them find what they are looking for, and to explain the value and use of your products or services. You must provide all of this in your online store as well.
Of course, you can't be in your website waiting for your customers, but you can be at your computer during your regular office hours, checking your e-mail regularly...and answering it promptly. Your site should have your e-mail address or toll-free number, phone number, fax number, or other means of contact on each and every page. The e-mail address will be the preferred method of contact.
Content is the most important element of your well designed site. Free content is what will get the visitors to your site in the first place. If not free content, free software, or another free gift, just for visiting. Freebies are what will also keep them coming back. Be sure that you offer something..anything free!
The pages that list your products or services are of course very important. Make sure that you provide clear, accurate descriptions of your product or service. Remember that the customer can't see you or what you are selling...it must be described. Be honest here...you won't get ahead of the game by letting people believe that your product or service will do something that you know it won't do. Provide prices for your products or services as well...preferably right beside the item's name. I often find myself scanning through the descriptions, which are sometimes pages long, looking for a price. This gets very frustrating for the customer. You would provide the prices in your offline store up front. There is no need to be secretive about it, you will have to tell them how much your product or service costs in the long run anyway. Be open and honest.
