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Some websites do a great job of promoting the business and pulling
in revenue. If yours is falling short in making money or drumming
up business, you could be doing a few elemental things wrong. Here
are seven qualities all good websites have in common.
Easy navigation. You'll find this at the top of any list
of good web design practices. A good rule of thumb is that it should
never take more than three clicks for a customer to find anything
on your site. Your navigation buttons should be arranged clearly
either at the top of the page or along the left-hand side. If you
have subcategories under each button, make sure they're placed logically.
Good SEO. You could have the best website in the world,
and it would still be a flop if nobody could find it. Make sure
your site is ranked well in the major search engines-Google, Yahoo,
and MSN. Hiring a good SEO firm
is one of the best investments you can make in your website's effectiveness.
Content for humans. Creating lots of relevant content is
a cornerstone of good SEO design. But don't forget that it's people,
not search engines, who are going to be buying your products or
services. Make sure your content
is well-written and not so crammed with keywords that it's unreadable.
Generally, web readers have less patience with wordy text blocks
than hardcopy readers do. So make your text concise, with lots of
bullet points and subheadings. Make sure the information they're
looking for is easy to read and understand, and your message is
clear.
Easy on the background colors. White space is key to good
visual design-make sure your website is spacious and not crammed
with color. Easy readability is key-avoid dark background colors,
even with light text colors. Above all, make sure there's a good
contrast between your text and background colors. Otherwise, your
site will be unreadable. Despite the many color combinations you
can incorporate, it's still best to stick with plain old black text
against a white background.
Streamlined graphics. If you have too many design elements
in your site, it could give a cluttered appearance. Make sure there
is a purpose for each design feature on your site-don't include
any visuals that don't add value.
Easy on the animation. Studies consistently show that readers'
eyes actively seek to avoid flashy animation. That "WOW"
factor may impress other designers, but it's not doing anything
for your customers. Reader pet-peeves include "click-to-enter"
sites with animated graphics so high-tech that they have to download
the latest version of Adobe to see them-if your readers have to
download anything to see your site, 99% of them will leave immediately
rather than bother.
Easy spending. You should never make it hard for customers
to spend money. If you're selling a product, make sure there's a
link on every page that will get your customers to the product pages.
The same principles apply if you're trying to get customers to sign
up for an e-newsletter-put the subscription link at the top of every
page. Customers hate searching around for links, and will go to
another site to spend money if they can't find the right links on
yours.
Your website can weigh your business down-or give it a big boost.
Incorporate the right design elements, the right copy, good SEO
principles, and, above all, easy navigation for best results.
Your business and your customers will thank you for it!
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