Website Design - Here are some Tips to Follow as well as Mistakes to Avoid

Main Articles Page by Trey Wilkins

The following article provides you with website design and build tips as well as clues you in on some common mistakes to avoid when building your small business website.

Website Design Tips

Usability simply refers to the ease of use involved while browsing/using a website. Obviously your goal in designing your website should be to make it as user friendly as possible...or to increase the usability which in turn will make it easier for you to convert your website browsers into paying customers.

Navigation - It should be clear and concise.

  • Keep your main links to a minimum (5 - 8), and include a Home page and Contact Us link.
  • Link your company logo to the home page.
  • Provide your users with a Site Map page linking to your main web page categories.
  • If you have more than 20 - 30 website pages, consider a Site Search function.
  • All website pages should have the same layout and uniform structure so the user can easily find prominent links.
  • Setup a custom 404 error page so if a user clicks on a broken link, they will have the option to navigate further within your website.
  • Use text links to link to other pages within your site, clearly name the text link, and use the standard blue with an underline.

Content - Content should be simple, relevant, and easy to understand.

  • Use headings to break up and organize the content on website pages.
  • The most important information goes first on the web page.
  • Use bullet points, numbers, etc to make it easy for readers to scan pages.
  • Keep your style, design, and content consistent throughout your site.
  • And finally do not write for search engines. Write for people. In other words do not keyword stuff, make your content easy to understand/read.

Brand and Identity

  • Your home page should cover what services and/or products your company offers, a brief description of your company, and it should be easy to read in a 5 - 10 seconds.
  • Put your company logo in the top left or right side of the website.
  • If you have a tagline, display it prominently in the top navigation bar on every page.
  • Add an About Us page, and describe your company and history.

User Feedback and Accessibility

  • Provide a contact form(s), display it prominently, and make it easy to find.
  • Keep required information on your contact forms to a minimum, but give users the option to provide you with additional information.
  • Provide complete contact information including phone, address, fax, hours of operation, etc.
  • Site load time should be fairly fast, and to achieve this provide more content and avoid large graphics and Flash.
  • Use ALT/TITLE tags to describe images.

Website Design Mistakes to Avoid

Cluttered content and design
  • Avoid cluttered content. Keep your home page simple with links to your main pages only. Secondary website pages should focus on one to two topics only. When visitors come to your home page, they need to know what your business has to offer them.
  • Keep your design simple as well. Avoid Flash, other graphic intensive displays (unless graphics is your small business focus), videos that just start playing out of nowhere, etc. These types of design elements are frustrating to viewers of your website because of slow download times and there is little content value unless you are showcasing your graphic capabilities. In addition search engines are unable to crawl Flash content.
  • Keep it simple with navigation as well, and periodically check for broken links. Avoid large navigation structures, and check out your website design and navigation structures in the major internet browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, etc) to ensure there are no issues. And do not forget mobile browsing as well.
  • Avoid fixed font sizes. Allow users to resize text via their browser.
  • Avoid large blocks of text. Break up your text via bullet points, and lists and make it easy to scan and read.
  • Avoid too much advertising. If you offer advertising on your site, keep it simple and do not clutter the pages so your website viewers are unable to find the information you offer.

Complicated contact methods or lack thereof and no responses

  • Avoid complicated contact methods. Keep your contact forms simple and only require the bare minimum information.
  • Avoid NOT using contact forms. Do not use just an email address or phone number. You want to at least capture the viewer's name, contact info, and the reason they are contacting you, and it is harder to obtain this necessary information when you just use an email address.
  • Do not make your website viewers jump through hoops, like filling out contact forms, to obtain content. There is plenty of free content online, and they will just go elsewhere. If you are offering something such as a software download, then contact forms are justified.
  • And most importantly, do not ignore or respond slowly to people who contact you. Monitor your contact forms and respond in a timely manner. Hint: 24 hours later is too long.

No call to action

  • Do not forget the call to action. You want to convert your website viewers to paying customers so provide them with useful contact, and direct them to contact you.

Follow these tips and avoid these common mistakes to get your small business website on the right track. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us today.

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