Optimal Website Design

Optimal Website Design

Optimal website design is the art of logical navigation.

It will offer consistency while providing useful, quality information that is attractive to the eye and easy to understand. A well designed site will lead your viewers to the starting point and direct them through your site without confusing them.

While there are many ways to design a website there are a few basic design principles that will help you create a site that is user friendly and attractive.

1. Use lots of white space.

Don't feel that because you have a whole screen you need to fill it up with 'stuff'. Your page should follow a clean outline. Include your site name at the very top. Below that, list the subject of your page followed by information on your topic. Leave adequate space between each section.

Don't cram a lot of pictures and ads on your site. If you have an ad, keep it off to the side or subtly intersperse it between your text. The idea is not to overwhelm your reader with a lot of advertisements.

It's best to keep your text on a white background. If you do choose a colored background be careful that your text doesn't blend into the background making it difficult to read.

2. Don't use animation and flashing objects.

As advertisers we feel the need to get our viewers attention. This is important but we need to do it gracefully. Flashing objects and scrolling images distract your visitors and take away from the content. If your product is better demonstrated with animation, music or some other multi-media, allow your viewer to select the option. Don't force it on them.

3. Include an 'about' link.

Allow your viewers to find out about who you are and what you are about. Include a biography and some background on why you are in the business you're in or why you created your website. By helping them to get to know you, they will find it easier to develop a trust. If they can like you and trust you, they will feel a lot better about doing business with you.

Always include your business address, phone number and email address. This also lets viewers know that you welcome contact and are serious about your business.

4. Include a 'Privacy' Link

Reassure your visitors that you follow privacy guidelines by including a 'Privacy' page. This is particularly important if you are collecting names and email addresses. Visitors want to know that you will not sell or give away their information.

In these days of rampant spam, your privacy policy needs to be prominently displayed. Many viewers and business partners won't do business with you unless you have it.

5. Always keep your links in blue.

Internet surfers have long been accustomed to seeing links in blue. It's simply an expectation that viewers have. There's certainly no law that says your links must be blue, but people prefer consistency, therefore it's good practice to keep your links consistent and recognizable. If they're not, you may lose out on clicks.

6. Keep navigation consistent

The navigation scheme you create on your index page should be done the same way throughout your site. Don't force your viewers to relearn each page of your site. Keep your navigation bars, colors and fonts consistent for each page.

7. Use Understandable buttons and links.

Title your links appropriately. Don't use cute or misleading names. For example, if you have a link to 'cameras' don't label the link 'hotshots', label it 'Cameras'. Your viewers don't want to waste time figuring out what things are. Be clear with your text or you could risk losing your visitor.

8. Focus on the 'YOU', not the 'ME'.

Make it obviously clear to your readers that you are in business for them. Encourage feedback, provide useful information and keep advertisements to a minimum. Your objective should be focused on what you can do for your reader? Convince them that your main interest is how you can deliver what it is they're looking for?

9. Make sure your page loads fast.

If viewers have to wait for a page to load they will click elsewhere. If a page doesn't load in 8 seconds you could lose 1/3 of your visitors. Here's a great free tool to help you check your website's load time:

http://www.1-hit.com/all-in-one/tool.loading-time-checker.htm

10. Use a site map.

A site map will give visitors a "guide" on viewing your site, especially with larger sites. it's a road map for your visitors to follow. Sitemaps are also popular with search engines and are often recommended to help ensure indexing

Read more »

Posted in: Web Design

Ecommerce For Beginners

Ecommerce For Beginners

Like most average persons, I wanted some extra money to supplement my regular income. I had considered a part time second job at times, but hated that option because it would take me away from the family, make me more tired and probably just pay minimum wage. I also wanted to be able to work from home.

I had surfed the internet for years and had often considered the idea of participating in the internet revolution. I had read some statistics on the use of internet and the increasing numbers of homes with computers and the increasing percentage of Christmas shopping done over the internet. So I decided to jump in with both feet.

First what is ecommerce? The online world designates web sites devoted to retail sales as an e-commerce site. E-commerce sites sell either information or hard goods such as cameras or knifes. E-commerce sites also have Shopping Carts and Payment Gateways attached to them that non-sales web sites do not need.

Ok??so you want to develop an E-commerce site. You are now probably asking do I have enough skill, mental patience or aptitude to be successful?

Well if you have average intelligence, I believe that you and thousands of people just like you could have an E-commerce web site. All that is required is the willingness to learn a few things, patience, and the determination to apply yourself.

How? I am glad you asked.

Let's begin. We first need to discuss the basics components you will need.

1. Computer 2. Internet connection 3. Site building software 4. Graphics Software 5. Web hosting company 6. Shopping cart 7. Payment gateway

The above elements are where most people stop when they think of what they will need when they want to start an ecommerce site. However, there are other elements that need to be considered, such as getting legal and product sourcing.

Items 1 and 2 above are pretty straight forward and most people can understand why they are necessary. The other items however are a little more complex. Site building software allows the beginner to construct a web site without knowing html programming code. What is Html programming Code?

Html is the programming language of the internet and stands for Hyper Text Mark Up Language. The two best software programs currently available to write Html are Microsoft's FrontPage or Macromedia's Dreamweaver. These programs are more correctly known as HTML Editors.

These two programs are the best ones available. I have them both but use FrontPage primarily. I think Front Page is easier to use and does better tables then Dreamweaver. Most professional web site developers, however consider Dreamweaver the better of the two because some claim it has more features, but I find it is a little more complicated to use. I would recommend that you surf the internet and read the reviews on both of these programs and make you own choice.

Next you will need a good graphic program such as Adobe Photoshop. A graphics program allows you manipulate the size of images create images in different formats and create special effects. "PhotoShop 6" is the current version from Adobe and is the best software program for graphics. Adobe "Photoshop Elements" can also be used, but is a limited version of the full Photoshop software. The programs from Adobe are expensive so shop around for the best price.

Web hosting is very important and you need to comparison shop for features first, not on price. Web hosting and ecommerce are extremely related, and learned by personal experience the mistake trying to separate ecommerce from web hosting. The web host company is the company that rents room on their server for your web site, but they can much more. They can offer an integrated shopping cart.

The shopping cart is the heart of the ecommerce web site. The shopping cart for all intents and purposes runs your ecommerce web site so it is critical to get a good one. It contains and displays the products you intend to sell. It also does other neat administrative functions that will make your store easier to run. There are some stand alone shopping carts for sale but most come with web hosting service attached.

The "Payment Gateway" is the cashier in the store and is also known as a "Merchant Account." This is basically a business credit card account. The payment gateway allows your se store to accept credit cards and transfer money to you. Merchant Accounts are very important and you should also carefully review their services and prices. If you do not get a merchant account you are pretty much limited to papal. Search the web and check out the available shopping carts and payment gateways.

Now what are you going to sell, and where are you going to get it? You can look every where for the products you want to sell. How do you know what will sell well? You need to do some market research. Not everything sells well, including electronics. If you have no preference on what to sell, find some marketing software that will allow you to determine which products ell well online.

Next, you will need a source for those products. Assuming you are not making them yourself. The best way is to drop ship them. The trouble is finding a reliable drop ship source and avoiding the imposters.

Read more »

Posted in: Ecommerce,Web Design

Ten Steps To A Winning Home Page

Ten Steps To A Winning Home Page

There's no doubt about it - the first page your site visitors see is the most important page of your website. If your home page isn't appealing, chances are the rest of your pages will never even be seen by your visitors. It helps to think of your home page as the "front door" to your online business. Will it invite people to come in and look around, or persuade them to take their dollars elsewhere? Here are ten tips for making your home page a winner:

1) Don't keep them waiting. Obey the "Eight Second Rule" (the one that says your Web page should load in eight seconds or less even over slower modems). Otherwise the viewer will probably lose patience and click the "stop" button.

2) Identify yourself. The first order of business is to identify your company and products or services. Let the viewer know they've arrived at the right destination and give them an idea of what you have to offer.

3) Make a good first impression. Your color scheme, design, graphics, and text should all contribute to a favorable first impression and convey the right corporate image. Your site visitors will probably decide within 5 to 10 seconds whether to stay and look around, so you've got to keep them interested.

4) Provide a preview. Use links, text and graphics to give the viewer an idea of your website's contents and encourage them to explore the rest of your site.

5) Don't make a splash. Don't make your first page a "splash page" (meaning a large graphic containing little or no text that's designed to act as a gateway to the rest of your site). Your visitors won't be impressed and neither will the search engines.

6) Lead the way. Provide obvious ways for your visitors to move to the various sections of your website (links, a site map, site search feature, etc.). You want them to come in and look around, so make it easy for them to find their way.

7) Don't waste the space. A monitor screen doesn't give you a lot of space, so use the available space for content with the maximum impact for your home page -your product line, main benefits, competitive advantage, etc.

8) Don't link away. You work hard to get people to visit your home page, so don't lose them right off the bat by giving them the opportunity to link away to another site. Put reciprocal links, ads, etc. on other pages deeper within your site.

9) Start selling. From the moment a visitor arrives at your home page, you should begin leading them toward the sale. Write concise but powerful copy that goes beyond telling to selling and emphasizes benefits to the user. Consider posting a special offer on your opening page.

10) Be kind to search engines. Including accurate title, description, and keyword meta tags in your HTML code, plus relevant content, will go a long way toward getting your site indexed properly by search engines, and that will lead visitors to your virtual doorstep. Remember that many search engines use "spiders" to explore your website automatically, so your home page must include links to the other sections of your website.

Read more »

Posted in: Web Design

Making Good Websites That Stand Out

Making Good Websites That Stand Out

Websites, there's literally billions of them out there in cyber-space. How many of them do you go to and just think this is boring, bland, or hard to use? It seems like too many to mention. So what makes a good website? I reckon it's about interaction. You've got to make the visitor interested. You've got to grab their attention. Many sites use plenty of bright and shiny gimmicks to attract you, but once you make it through to the content of the site it's just not worthy. A good site uses easy navigation, relevant content, and interactive media like comments and message boards. If you're fortunate, whoever builds your site may even have a few tricks up their sleeves to make it really fun with sound, video, and other interactive fun stuff.

Do you want people to come to your site and then tell their friend and family about it? Do you want to have huge amounts of visitors? Do you want to succeed in making your dreams come to fruition on the Web? Make your website exciting! It might be easier said than done, but there are people around whose job it is to construct and design sites for a living. If you can afford it, go for the best. How great is it when you come across a site that has some special feature that you've never seen elsewhere? Isn't it great when you find a site that relates to one of your interests that is simple and easy to get to the information you want? If you want to have people to come back again and again, you've got to keep updating the content to keep it fresh and interesting. Have a way for people to communicate with yourself and others who are into the same things. E.G. Forums, message boards and comments. The aim is to catch the 'viewer's' interest. A lot of sites just look like giant advertisements and you have to search for the needle in the haystack to find out what the actual site is for. I know advertising is a way of making money, but if you want your site to have an authentic, respectable atmosphere that exudes a feeling of integrity, you better be careful. People are becoming wary of this consumer driven, mindless attack at the average civilian's wallet. Some people will automatically leave a site if a bunch of commercials pop-up on the screen. Pop-ups, don't even make me go there? So, the aim of the game is to make a site that offers the public to be part of the action as well as being a source of knowledge or information that is in demand. A simple to navigate, good 'feel', and if possible-innovative site is the means to becoming the popular Internet magnate you've always dreamed of becoming. Another important fact is the idea of 'you'. Your website is a chance to put your identity out there in the world. Be yourself. If you try to appeal to an audience in a way that doesn't reflect your true self, you're destined to fail. Be honest and speak from your real perspective on life. Give it to us from the heart.

Read more »

Posted in: Web Design

A Website Checklist

A Website Checklist

If you've just finished building your new website (or revamping your old one), how can you be sure it's "ready for prime time"? Or maybe your site's been around for awhile and you think it may be due for a makeover. Because Web technologies, techniques and standards change so rapidly, even a website that seems "cutting edge" when it's built can look obsolete a year later. Or maybe you started out with a barebones website and finally have the time and/or money to take it to the next level. If you'd to give your website the once over, here are ten aspects you should consider:

Compatibility: Will your website display correctly for most people regardless of their computer hardware, operating system, browser and monitor resolution? Make sure your site renders properly for as many users as possible. If any features of your website require certain browser plug-ins, provide a download link. Remember that not everyone will have Javascript enabled and that graphics can be turned off by the user; make sure your site will still work without them.

Completeness: None of your website should be "Under Construction". Websites tend to evolve over time and are never truly "finished", but that's no reason for your website look like a construction zone. If you must include pages that aren't completed, at least put some informative content on the page to motivate people to check back later. Otherwise leave out the section altogether until it's ready for prime time.

Content: Do you need to update the text on your site? Have you added services, expanded your product line, targeted new markets, or changed your business strategy? Is your website's description of your company current and accurate, including your contact information? Could the content be written more clearly, convincingly, or succinctly? Could your website be more informative, helpful, interesting or relevant? Would customer testimonials or an FAQ section strengthen your sales message? Check all of your site content for incorrect grammar, spelling errors and typos.

Graphics: Do your graphics contribute to or detract from your website? A website with no graphics would be uninteresting, but a site with too many graphics, animations, and different fonts is overwhelming and distracts from your sales message. The trick is to find the right balance. Use animations sparingly, especially those that "loop" (play over and over). They can easily become annoying and distract from your sales message. Remember that banner ads count as graphics, too, and one or two per page is plenty.

Interactivity: You might consider making your site interactive by adding a mailing list, message board, poll, ezine or guest book. A contest or trivia quiz can attract visitors and bring them back more often. Rotating content like a joke, quote, or tip of the day keeps your website interesting. Don't feel obliged to add all the latest bells and whistles just because you can, but ask yourself whether some advanced features might give your website the edge. If you don't want to provide the content yourself, check into content available from syndicators (just keep it relevant to your target market and your other site content).

Links: Are all the links on your website working? First make sure any links between pages on your site are directing site visitors to the correct page. Check all of your links to other websites, too; the webmaster may have renamed the page or removed it altogether, and those dead links will make your site look unprofessional and frustrate your site visitors. If you've removed some of the pages from your own site, set up a custom 404 page that redirects your visitors to your home page (or a search page) when they try to access a page that no longer exists.

Speed: Does your site load quickly enough in the viewer's browser? The "Eight Second Rule" is a good rule of thumb, meaning no site visitor should have to wait longer than eight seconds to view the opening page of your website. After eight seconds have elapsed, chances are good the viewer will give up and go elsewhere. If you have graphics or animations that take awhile to download, provide some engaging content to hold their interest while they wait. Adding graphic elements always comes at a cost in terms of slower loading times, so only include graphics if they really contribute to visual impact of your website and strengthen your sales message.

Navigation: Is it easy to find information on your site? The opening page should tell visitors, at a glance, who you are, what you do, and how to find what they're looking for. From there your visitors should be able to follow a logical path to learn more about various aspects of your business. If you list products or services on your site, organize them in a logical way. If you decide to use graphic icons instead of text, make sure their meaning is obvious. Make it easy for your site visitors to find what they came for.

Search engine optimization: Is your website optimized to rank for important keywords in the most popular search engines? Double check your page titles and meta tag keywords and descriptions to make sure they are accurate and descriptive. Did you work your keywords into the actual page content as well (including variations)? Is your website focused on a specific theme, and do you have plenty of informative content related to that theme? Is your website spider-friendly (meaning search engine spiders can access every page and read the most important content from the source code)?

Style: Is your website's style consistent with your business goals? Ask yourself what you want your business image to be, and make sure your website enhances that image. Is your company's style polished? Friendly? Trendy? High tech? The look and feel of your site should reflect that style. Does your website still compare favorably with those of your competitors? Your website should reflect favorably on your business and help you to build your corporate image. If yours doesn't, maybe it's due for a makeover.

Usability: Usability refers to how easily site visitors can use your site. The best measure of usability is feedback from users -the people who visit and try to navigate the site. If you have received complaints, comments, questions, or suggestions from site visitors, change your site accordingly. Of course, dissatisfied customers won't always let you know. That's why you should also analyze your Web logs to see whether visitors quickly abandon certain pages or don't visit some of your pages at all. Think in terms of building pathways through your site that visitors can follow. A well-designed website leads visitors deeper into the site without frustrating or confusing them and doesn't lose them along the way.

Read more »

Posted in: Web Design

Website Basics

Website Basics

The Basics
You have a flourishing business ? everything is in its place. You just miss one important piece of marketing: an Internet Presence a website. Like everything in business, getting a website needs planning. Getting an effective website needs even more planning.
Here are some basic things to know and plan:
The WWW
What is the www or the internet? Basically a network of websites from all over the world you can access via your computer for which you need an internet connection and a browser. Internet connections are available from ISPs, and most of the popular browsers are free downloads from the internet. Just like writing/typing an address on a postal envelope, you type the website address in the browser beginning with http://www. and ending with either .com, .net, .org, .biz, .nz, .uk, etc. So if you want to access the microsoft website, you would type http://www.microsoft.com in the browser and hey, presto! You get all the information about microsoft and its products on your browser. Just click on the available links and you are on your way.
Your Website
Your website will be a bunch of pages all linked together via hyperlinks. You can ofcourse have a one-page website or as many pages as you like - depending on the amount of information you want to share with your visitors. Hyperlinks are text or images pointing to another page, just like the heading of this article points to my website.
Your Audience
As the web has grown, so has the types of people who access it and how they access it. As we say, it is impossible to please everybody. It is very difficult to design a website which will be accessible to all. Carefully choose your content and design, keeping in mind who your target audience is and what type of equipment they use. Equipment here means the computer and other hardware and also includes the software used for connecting to the internet and browsing it.
The best way to reach more people is to use pure HTML, and keep the use of scripting languages like JavaScript, Java, and other plug-ins to the minimum. While this may not make your site flashy,stylish or trendy, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that your site is accessible to most of the people. Afterall, that is the whole point of this exercise, right?
Designing your website means knowing your audience and their requirements.

Content
Now that introductions are over, lets get down to the core of your website: Content. The most important aspect of any website, content is the one thing that will keep your visitors at your site and keep bringing them back. The content should depend on what you want to let your visitors know - about the company, the products, the services. Keep the content interesting, updating it often for repeat visitors. Often this can mean providing more details about different aspects in your business, like seasonal discounts, etc. Your visitors will visit your site again and again if the content is relevant, and there is something new everytime they visit.
Layout
A well laid out website will be a successful one. Whether you design the site yourself, or outsource the task to a webdesigner like us, first layout your ideas on paper. Choose text, color and graphics carefully, they all contribute to the page load time. Starting with your Home Page, keep it fast-loading, with a good navigational structure. Try to follow the same layout for the whole website. Change the layout only for different sections and not different pages. If the navigation bar is at the top on your HomePage, keep it at the top in all the other main pages. Consistency in layout is very, very important.

Read more »

Posted in: Web Design