| 12 Steps To A Better Web site By: Mark Angeletti |
1. Know Your Target Audience Before any development can take place you must know your viewers browsing habits. It is critical to your website's success that it reflect the values of your viewers. If your target market is the affluent business professional then it should reflect that with a clean easy to navigate and read design. If your website's viewers are younger adults then a more relaxed and informal look may be acceptable. The key is to know your market and build accordingly. It's your target audience that dictates the design of your site- not you. |
2. What's the Theme of Your Site Your website should have a clear and decisive theme. A viewer should know exactly what your website is all about after reading the first paragraph of the index page. If you are selling a product or service it should be evident within the first 30 seconds what that product or service is. If your business offers multiple products, it's best to dedicate a unique page for each product rather than try to sell them all from a single page. |
3. The Need for Speed Let's face it - people are in a hurry. Nobody likes to wait for anything and the Internet is no exception. No matter how much faster the Internet connections are today compared to years gone by it still just doesn't seem fast enough. In fact, many studies show that the faster technology advances, the faster people expect things to be. With this in mind, how is your websites speed? Viewers should be reading your sites content within 10 to 15 seconds and as noted should know exactly what they will get by spending their precious time at your site. |
4. K.I.S.S No I'm not talking about the old rock band from the 80's with all the makeup. I'm talking about that old saying, Keep It Simple Stupid. If your website's navigation is not intuitive allowing viewers to easily navigate and find what they're looking for, well then perhaps your competitions is. It's been said that a user should not have to drill-down or click more than 3 times to get to what they are looking for. Coincidently they can also get to your competition within 3 clicks. |
