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Advanced_web_design_principles
| Advanced web design principles
Home Page
Regardless of our connection speed, Internet users expect
information to be readily obtainable, pages to download quickly
and solutions at the click of the mouse. As such, you should
look at your home page as your Sale point. Have you explained
succinctly what you are selling and included links to more
detailed information? Note that on the first page, you should
try to pre-sell your potential customers on the benefits of your
product or service.
If you are offering many products or services, place only the
most attractive on the first page. Do not overload your first
page. People might get confused if you provide too much
information on one page. That is one of the reasons why I always
advise my customers not to use flash intros on their first page
or at the very lease, allow them to skip through it. Today,
internet users have less patience to wait and will move on
quickly if pages take too long too load or if they have to “wait
through” fancy openers that are all flash and no substance.
Site structure
Structure of your site should be dedicated to one goal only.
Leading the visitor from your home page (pre-sale point) to
different pages (sale points) on your site.
Structure of your site should be as simple as 1 – 2 – 3.
The 1 should be your home page, where you provide the basic
information (read benefits) about your product or service.
The 2 should be a “more details” page where you will list and
elaborate on benefits and prices of your product
And 3 should be your “add to cart” or “contact us” page.
Navigation structure
If you are serious about having your business on the Internet,
do not experiment with the navigation of the site. Keep it
simple and easy to use. If your pages are long, place a menu on
the bottom of the page to save your users from scrolling to the
top of the page to reach the menu.
Text
Do you believe that people read everything written on your page?
They don’t. What they do is SCAN. They are scanning your page,
looking for specific information regarding your company, what
you have to offer, pricing and how to contact you. What you say
and how you say it can mean the difference between a visitor and
a sale.
For first timers, the look and content of our pages may evolve
based on customer needs and comments. So… always, be sure to
include search options in case visitors don’t find what they are
looking for as well as readily obtainable contact information.
Most importantly, make sure someone is available to answer
questions. Never keep a potential first-time customer waiting
for information.
In many cases, search option will keep the visitor on your site,
giving you one more chance to convert the visitor into a
customer.
Creating emphasis
Having in mind that users scan the pages, determining what to
emphasize and creating emphasis on your pages is very important.
Eye catching details will help you to lead the visitor to the
pages on your site that you want to be exposed, and it will
increase your chances to convert the visitor into a customer.
Graphics
Graphics should emphasize the benefits of your products or
service. Don’t use graphics unrelated to your product or
service. Placing the graphic on the site just because you like
the graphic, and you think that your site looks better with it
is simply wrong. Use that space to explain to your visitors why
they should buy from you and not from someone else.
Graphics should emphasize quality of your product or service. If
you can’t find or create such a graphic, use text. It’s that
simple.
Speed
Faster is better. There are still millions of people still using
dial up for their connection. So try to make the download time
for your site as short as possible. Remember, time is money and
the longer it takes to download your website, the faster
potential customers will go elsewhere for their business.
About the author:
Zoran Makrevski is the president of SEO.Goto.gr. We offer
customized and affordable SEO Services.
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