Take mobile phones for instance. There are hundreds of models to choose from; different styles with various features. Manufacturers sell various phone models, all with pretty much the same features. What distinguishes them from each other? They each have their own distinct look to suit different personalities and tastes and, more often than not, it is the well-designed ones that sell.
The same holds true for websites. A good website design is one that stands out from the sea of millions of business websites out there. It isn’t just about having distinctive graphics. It’s about being easy to use, and having well-planned information and graphics presentation.
What do these mean you ask? Ease of use means visitors would not find it difficult to move around your site. At the same time, your site should load quickly and allow even the newest computer user easy access to whatever he or she is looking for. Well-planned and presented information means having all relevant information available. This should be written in a short yet complete manner. And it must again, be easy to locate. Graphics and colours must be able to represent your company’s image.
In order to achieve this, you might want to consider some of the following:
• Avoid heavy use of graphics. This not only makes the site look cluttered, it slows down loading speed. You don’t want your visitors to get overwhelmed with too many objects and text staring them in the face.
• Interact with your visitors. Make forms available for them to fill out should they have any questions or comments. And post your email address where it can be easily seen. Remember to answer any queries as accurately and as quickly as possible.
• Focus on information dissemination rather than advertising. Advertising is what television commercials are for. People who go to your website have probably already seen your ad. To find out more about the product that caught their fancy, they check out your site. Think how frustrated they would feel if they logged on only to find more ads.
So, just as you pay close attention to those TV commercials or print adverts of yours, pay the same attention to your website design. If designed really well, it might just be what you need to make that next big sale.