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MethodSmart Media
Basic Tips for Successful Web Site Design
By Gerald S. Adler
1. The homepage of a website should load in a maximum of eight (8) to ten (10) seconds with a
56K modem. Many of today's Internet browsers connect via a high speed or broadband
(corporate LAN, DSL or cable) connection, therefore a homepage should preferably load in a
maximum of five (5) seconds. While, do to circumstances beyond any one individual's
control such as Internet traffic, etc., some of the factors affecting web page load time can not
be directly controlled, the design should not be an issue. According to two previous surveys
conducted by Forrester Research and Gartner Group, ecommerce sites were losing $1.1 to
$1.3 billion in annual revenue due to customers leaving slow loading sites. If the homepage
takes too long to load, a potential customer may not wait. This ultimately costs you business.
2. Include proper metatags within the HTML of each page of your web site, and effectively name
all graphics and links. This is the basic work required for a minimally effective search engine
friendly site. Metatags are HTML code which enables the search engines to determine what
keywords are relevant to a specific site. About 85 percent of all web site traffic originates from
the major Search Engines. While metatags alone do not carry the search engine weight they
once did, they are still very important. Keyword and keyphrase choice, placement and density
are crucial to basic search engine optimization. Make certain to research the most effective
keywords and keyphrases that best reflect your needs. One must appreciate that these
keywords and keyphrases are most effective when targeted to your prospects, so when
designing your website think like a prospect. It would be a good idea to research various
search engines and fully understand how to optimize your web pages prior to designing the
web site. MethodSmart Media specializes in designing websites geared towards maximum
search engine effectiveness. Contact us at Info@MethodSmart.com for a free online
marketing consult.
3. One should be cautious when selecting the website's background and text colors.
Distracting or busy backgrounds make text difficult to read and draw attention away from the
text. Always be consistent with the background theme on each page of the web site. The site
should be nicely organized and uniform throughout. Appreciate the effect of the color
scheme. Bright colors such as yellow and orange cause one to become more cheerful.
Colors such as blue and purple have a calming effect. Dark colors such as brown and black
have a depressing effect. “Power" colors such as deep red or burgundy, navy blue, and gold
(especially when used with minimal black/grey/white) may help signify strength and
significance. Use colors based on the type of affect one is trying to achieve.
4. Avoid overusing animated or Flash graphics. While these graphics can be exceptionally
effective, they can also be very distracting. In addition, if not correctly designed, coded
and placed in the website, they may cause the page to load slower. This need not be
the case as Flash graphics are easily compressed and, while nothing will load as fast as
text, they can be configured to efficiently (quickly) load. The effective and efficient use
of Flash will increase “stickiness", or the amount of time a prospect spends browsing
the site. Search Engines however, have a hard time appreciating the value of Flash, so
use it – but use it wisely! A professional web site design and development team will
know how to work with a customer in creating the site best meeting their needs.
Always feel free to contact MethodSmart Media (www.MethodSmart.com) at
Info@MethodSmart.com for advice or additional information.
5. The homepage should quickly and easily inform prospects exactly what is being offered.
If a prospective customer can not find your product or service, they definitely will not
allot a significant amount of time looking for it. They will browse to a competitor and
probably never return to your website. Prospects visit a site for a specific purpose. They
want something your site offers, especially if like most they discovered your site via a
search engine! Whether the site is informational or offers a product or service – make
certain a prospect is not lost once they found you simply due to inefficient or confusing
website design.
6. Try to avoid placing large banners at the very top of your pages. Unless the purpose is
exceptionally clear and with fast rotation, banners can confuse customers. Search
engine robots also may have a hard time recognizing banners. As with Flash graphics
(and many effective banners are designed with Flash), professionally designed banners
can be a highly effective marketing tool that can help explain the web site in an
interactive and entertaining manner, but should not be overused. Limit the number of
banners on your site to a maximum of two per page.
7. Make certain to always include your contact information on each page of the website. In
addition, try to reply to all comments and suggestions within a maximum of 24 hours.
This is true even if the reply is merely to acknowledge receipt of the email or call, and to
inform the person making the inquiry or comment that their issue is being addressed –
and that they can expect follow-up. This will help promote good, long-term business
relationships. These relationships are the key to a business' success.
8. ALWAYS check and double-check the website for spelling and grammatical errors. In
addition, make sure images and links are all working properly. If a web site has several
errors, it will appear to be unprofessional (and, in fact will be!). Get several people to
carefully review the site prior to it being published.
9. Design the site to be easily navigated. Place navigation links together at the top or left
side of the page. A bottom navigation is also highly effective and makes perusing the
site much easier (for when one is at the bottom of a web page). Do not use right-side
navigation the norm is for top or left navigation. Prospects will have a hard time
identifying right side navigation. Use tables to neatly align links. If planning on using
Flash graphic buttons to navigate the site keep in mind that search engines will have a
harder time with them – so make certain any Flash navigation is properly designed and
developed. While Flash does increase stickiness and constitutes a more professional
website, text links are an excellent alternative for the beginner (and for anyone to
use for bottom navigation!).
10. If one feels the absolute need to use frames, use them sparingly. If frames are not
properly used, they can make your site look unprofessional. One should also take pains
to avoid making visitors have to scroll from side to side to view your content. This can
be very irritating and cause visitors to leave your site for a competitor. If one must use
frames, offer your visitors a choice. Additionally, search engines also have a very hard
time with frames, which should be reason enough to avoid their use!
11. Keep the number of clicks required to get from the homepage to any other page on the
site down to a maximum of three (3). Remember that your visitors may very well enter
your site from pages other than the homepage. Always have good navigational links on
every page and place your company logo at the top of each page. Also make sure a
prospect does not have to leave your site when clicking on any link. They should always
be able to easily access your site via another window or navigation.
12. If one absolutely insists on using music on the site, make sure it is not set it to
"autoplay." It can be very distracting. Generally, website music is outdated. Perusing a
website with music is much like reading a letter where every other sentence is either in
a different font, in bold, underlined or using some other special effect. It takes away
from the message, and can be an aggravating nuisance to prospects. This is especially
when the volume is loud, it is set to “autoplay", and the “disable music" button is hard
to locate.
MethodSmart Media does not recommend the use of music on a website (unless that is
the very market the site targets).
13. All web browsers are not created equally. View your site through different browsers and
screen resolutions so you will see how your visitors will view your site.
14. Continually add new content to the website. Give your visitors a reason to return. A
primary benefit of the Internet is its dynamic nature, so use that to your advantage!
When an author writes and then has a book published, it must be completely reprinted
to accommodate any revisions. This is not true of a website. With as little as a couple
of hours of planning, design and development a new webpage can easily be added to
any website. Minor revisions to an existing web page can be completed in even less
time. That is a significant marketing advantage!
Gerald S. Adler is President of MethodSmart Media, Inc.
MethodSmart (www.MethodSmart.com) provides comprehensive online marketing services. Feel free to contact MethodSmart for website design, development, search engine optimization or other Internet marketing advice at either Info@MethodSmart.com or 865.599.6843.
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