How would you feel if you walked into a store and the music was blaring, there were neon lights flashing throughout the store, and there were so many distractions that you forget what you came in to buy? This is how customers feel when they come across a poorly designed website. You want them to buy from you, right?
I came across this article by Jan Peterson which offers us “10 Tips for Killer Website Design”. I’ve highlighted the key points here, but you can read the whole article by going to this blog.
1) Easy Navigation - People don't want to waste their time hunting for things that should be easy to find.
2) Flashing Gizmos - The exit ramp to a dead end street
3) Color - Color is an individual preference but studies show that colors have an affect on people's emotions. Look at the top sites like Amazon; their layout is simple and so is their color scheme.
4) Page Links - This is a no brainer but make sure all of your buttons are hyperlinked to a page and the right destination page.
5) About Us - People usually want to know basic things before they do business with you.
6) Sitemap - A sitemap helps people where to find what they are looking for quickly without have to rummage through your whole site like a lost soul.
7) Fast Loading Pages
8) Shopping Cart - If you are selling items or services, you need a reliable and well organized shopping cart.
9) Templates or Original Design - People often think that to have a website designed is going to cost thousands. So they opt for the templates and throw together sites. There is nothing wrong with this approach except I can tell the difference between what I call a "canned" site and one that was created from scratch. While I don't think a website that uses templates will turn off a customer, I just think it may not be as appealing.
10) Customer Service - customer service should be written all over your site. From tips, to free reports, to guarantees, to fast and reliable shopping.
My thoughts:
I’ve been making websites for about seven years now, so I have a pretty good idea of what is good and what is bad when it comes to website design. Many newbies get design happy and add all this flashy clipart, rotating banners, and use font sizes that are too small to read. The more simple you keep your website, the better.
I like his last tip “customer service should be written all over your site”. Just remember that your competition is just a click away, so you must constantly think of your customer as you’re building your website. Don’t make it convenient for you, make it convenient for them.
All these little details can seem time consuming, however, it will be worth it when you have all those sales pouring in, eh?
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Good post. Often, people build websites with the wrong idea in mind. People are most likely coming to your site to get something (like information). They aren't there to check out your graphics or listen to music.
Posted by: Eric Mills | August 17, 2006 8:22 PM | Permalink to Comment