Web Design Services

Effective Website Design

The only way your site can really be effective is if people can actually use it. It should be easy to read, easy to navigate and easy on the eyes. If you keep these concepts in mind, you will most-likely end up with a website that is effective. Why? Because you are thinking like the end user and not the company president.

Consider your homepage your resume. It is the first impression the user has of you. Their first opportunity to ‘fire’ you and go on to the next website their search engine found. A clean and simple website will allow the user to relax, locate what they are looking for and take action. If there is too much going on, your user will not know where to go and will probably leave your site.

The key to an effective website no longer is just getting the site built, but it’s getting the site built right. Companies that have an effective website use their site as part of their overall marketing strategy. They understand that their website is a tool, much like an advertisement, podcast or brochure and that it should be used for one purpose; to further their business objectives. Seven out of 10 buyers say a website has ‘at least some influence’ over their decision to open an initial discussion with a provider*. Gone are the days that you can sit back and not actively participate in your own marketing strategy. Interactive and new media tactics require your participation. An effective website marries strong design elements along with your business objectives. This means that you and your web designer must work together in the creation of your website keeping these above concepts in mind.

Easy to Read:

Your website content should be written for the web. Don’t just transfer content from another marketing piece, like a brochure, and place it on the web. Website content should be short and to the point. Your end users are probably looking to solve a specific issue and they want to be able to locate that information quickly. The content should be focused on what your target audience needs and not what you or your colleagues want to say.

If you have a page with little or no content, remove it or place the content elsewhere. Empty or near empty pages will give the user the impression that you don’t have much to say on the topic at hand. Remove as much content as possible that doesn’t specifically enhance the understanding of your services/product to your end user. Stay away from too much industry jargon. And even though website content can be quickly updated, it should be thoroughly proofread and edited just like anything else. It is still a representation of your company.

Easy to Navigate:

It is easy to want to be overly creative with the navigation, but again, you must think about how a user wants to experience your website. So, the navigation should be easy to understand and consistent throughout the site. The hierarchy of information should be clear and the look of the navigation bars or buttons should not make it difficult to read; the design should not take away from or cover up the content, but enhance it.

There are some general standards for website design such as; making sure the logo is in the same place throughout the site and that it takes the user back to the homepage, creating quick links off the homepage for popular items so users can access these areas quickly, listing the contact and copyright information on every page, making it easy for your users to contact you no matter where they are within your site and making sure all pages load quickly. If you anticipate users printing pages from your site, make sure each page is printer-friendly with your logo and contact information on each page
When dealing with a larger site, you should provide the visitor with a crumb trail indicating where they are within your site. Most websites, and certainly large ones, should also have a site map.

Easy on the Eyes:

Along with your straightforward navigation, you should have an uncluttered website. Clean, white space is a very important part of this equation. Images can be a useful addition by helping clarify your services/product or by strengthening your marketing message. Images, videos, other bells and whistles can slow down the loading of your web pages or distract the user, so chose imagery that is meaningful. If your user has to wait for stuff to download, they will lose patience and leave.

Colors are also an important role in keeping your site clean. Colors should reinforce your brand identity. They should be consistent and have the same meaning throughout the site. Colors used behind text should be neutral as to not take away from the actual message. This will also provide the option of using a couple strong contrasting colors to emphasize more important messages.
However, the most important way to ensure you have an effective website is to use it. Promote it, update it, apply search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to it and share it. Because in the end, the success of your website is less dependent on a great design than on great content and your continued participation with the site.

Effective Website Design / Monique Frecker

Monique Frecker is Creative Director of Justice & Young, a Cincinnati marketing and public relations firm.

Webpage Layout Criteria

Crucial layout elements
When you create your webpage layout, there are elements that should be present on every page. One of the first is the banner. The banner lets the visitor know they are on the same site even though they have gone to a different page within the site. Your banner can include the name of your site, links to unique pages of your site, how to contact you and even a search box. The next thing crucial for every page is a global navigation section. From the homepage it can be minimal and as the visitor goes deeper into the site, it can expand. This all depends on how many pages your website will contain. Each page of your site should also have a headline. The headline will give the visitor and idea of the contents on that page. If they are looking for dog information and the headline says something about cats then it will be obvious they are on the wrong page. A final element necessary for each page is footer information. This can have a textual sitemap, contact information, the copyright and links to your privacy documentation.

How big to make your webpage layout
Determining the width of a web page should be taken into consideration when creating your layout. A large majority of monitors these days are 19 inches and are set for a width of 1024 pixels. You must remember that not everyone has this size monitor and your site needs to accommodate as many visitors as possible. For now, the suggested width to design for would be 800 pixels. It is easy to see how your site will look on larger monitors by adjusting your resolution up and down. Another feature to control is the height of the page. Keep the scrolling to a minimum and if your content is too large, try to break it up between multiple pages.

Webpage Layout Criteria / Pat L.

Pat L. started out as a novice creating a few niche sites and during that process gained huge amounts of knowledge in the website development process. You can visit http://www.abundantarticles.com for more information about developing and creating a website.

About Web Site Design Usability

A good website provides the first hand information about your company and its operations. Therefore, it must have the best visibility in all important search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. Having a strong visibility into search engines help a website o get viewed a number of times.

Thus, it is important to ensure the proper website design to make it really visible and user friendly. A good website must catch the users’ attention and provide them their desired information at once. Otherwise, your site is a waste of their time.

Here are few tips that may help a web site to earn praises from the ultimate users. Go through the below mentioned three important aspects of web site:

A Clear and Simple Navigation System

A good website design must present clear cut information about the company that too in simple understandable words. It should have simple navigation system to facilitate users to address their queries easily and conveniently.

Keep the Content Simple and Understandable

Users login to getting the relevant and necessary information. A beautiful design may attract users but it cannot retain their interest until and unless it provides something meaning to the users. It should have a value for visitors to keep them at the site and encourages them to return. Content is also the best way to boost your site in search engine rankings.

Always it is important to frame the content keeping in the mind the requirements of the search engines. Present your content with your users in mind.

Support Your Brand

It is better to make a website that supports your brand to a great extent. This helps a website to build its customer base. When your site is strongly branded, that means that visitors will think of you first when they go shopping for your product or service.

About Web Site Design Usability / Synapse India

This article has been contributed by the webmaster of www.synapse.co.in – A renowned offshore outsourcing company offering a wide range of services including software development, custom web application development, Website Design ,  Search Engine Marketing and E commerce Solutions.