Ask your self these two simple questions before you begin your web site project. “What message are you trying to deliver and who you are trying to deliver it to?” I feel this is where you need to start before you even talk to someone about Web Site Design. Get to you message fast. What do I mean? Most people have a very short attention span. When I get to a site I want to know what the site is about fast. I do not want to read about how long you have been in business or that your company is named after your favorite hunting dog? Tell me about all that other stuff on secondary pages. What I want to know is how can your company or product help me now.
Do not overload your visitors with to much information. If you have multiple products that you will be marketing on your Web Site, Design the Site so that each product has a page. You should mention your products or services on the home page but do not go over board.
Do not over load your site with a bunch of flashy animations. It is a distraction from your message and that is not what you want your visitors to remember. You can use these animations on your site but pick and choose wisely where to use them. Keep it Simple. All of us have gone to pages that were so complicated to navigate that we left and went to another web site. The first site might have had the exact item that we were looking for but we could not find it. That company lost a sale because their Web Site was too complicated. Just Keep it Simple!
Does you competition have a Web Site? If they do, then take advantage of this. Do not copy the competition’s site but use it as a way to better develop your own site. Keep your site up to date. Nothing makes me leave a Web Site faster than old out of date content or content that I have seen over and over again. If you no longer sell an item or offer a service, why is it still on your site? Why do you have a message about your half off end of the year sale when it is April? It does not take much time or effort to keep your site updated.
How will people find your Web Site on the Internet? This is a very important step. You can have the Best product on the Best Web Site and if nobody can find you then you are just spinning your wheels. You must choose the correct keywords and place those keywords in the proper place on your Web Site. If you call your product something, but the customers call it something else, then they will not find you.
Web Site Design is a balancing act between how you want your site to look and how you want your site to function. If you are building your site your self of have a Web Design Company build it for you, just make sure that your site functions properly and that it contains relevant up to date content. And remember you almost always get what you pay for.
