Simple, unobtrusive designs that support users are successful because they abide by the Web’s nature – and they make people feel good.
Jakob Nielsen, website usability guru
Many websites seem to be designed for the sole purpose of being cool, different or winning design awards. But a business website must be designed to meet its business objectives. Otherwise it’s a waste of money… even if it does look good.
Good design is important on the Web. But if your site’s going to be a success, it can’t be designed in a vacuum. Here are four essential website design principles to help ensure your website is profitable:
1. Website usability
“Usability” is a fancy term that means “easy to use”. Website usability is important because people experience your website before they do business with you. If they have a good experience they’re more likely to turn into a loyal customer. If they get frustrated using your site, they’ll try somewhere else.
Here are four important guidelines for better usability:
Follow page layout conventions
Page layout conventions are like grammar for websites. They define the meaning of the page elements and give guidelines for putting them together. Your visitors will thank you for conforming to these conventions because it lets them focus on the task at hand, rather than learning how to use your site.
Write for scanners
People don’t read websites word for word. They scan the page looking for the information they want. Therefore your website content should be written for scanners.
Online text should have roughly 50% of the words you would use for print. Include lots of bullets, lists and meaningful sub-headings. Use links to break longer information up into parts.
Make text legible
Use a minimum 10 or 12 point font and allow users to adjust the size of the font in their browsers. Many over-40 folks struggle to read anything smaller than 14 point. Use dark text on a light background. Preferably black text on a white background.
Make links obvious
Make it obvious what’s clickable. Use coloured, underlined text for text links. Don’t underline non-link text. Change the colour of visited links so people know what they’ve already seen. Don’t open pages in new windows.
Usability is often the low hanging fruit when it comes to optimising a website. Research by Jakob Nielsen shows redesigning for usability improves key performance indicators by 83% on average.
2. Search engine-friendly
Search engines play a big role in your website’s success because they can bring prospective customers to your site.
Search engines catalogue the web using programs called spiders (or bots) which automatically index website content. You must ensure the design, architecture and coding of your site allow these spiders access to all your content.
Unfortunately, the average web design firm doesn’t understand the connection between site design, architecture and coding and search engine marketing techniques. This means you can end up with – unbeknownst to you – a website that’s invisible to the search engines.
Luckily Google has devoted a whole section of their website to this topic: Creating a Google-friendly site: Best practices. I recommend asking your web design firm to guarantee the site they build for you meets these guidelines.
3. Design follows content
Most websites are built backwards. Typically the developers create the design and then wait while the client scratches around trying to cobble the content together from old brochures and press releases.
This is not a recipe for success. Why? Because it’s the content that makes the sale. It’s what persuades people to pick up the phone, register for your newsletter or download your special report.
The function of the design is to complement the content. The design showcases your marketing message. The design should present the message so that it achieves the maximum impact. Design and content work hand in hand to help your achieve your website marketing goals.
Good website design is simple, clean, and used to draw the eyes to areas of interest where the visitor can interact with the site. But the content, not the design, is the most important element of your website. It should not be an afterthought. It should come before the design.
4. Design for credibility
People do judge books by their covers. And websites too. According to research by the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, 75% of web users make judgements about the credibility of an organisation based on its website.
Most visitors make a snap judgement on the quality of your business, your products and your service based on a quick glance of your website. Customers expect a reputable company to have a professionally designed and attractive website. Clear navigation shows respect for visitors and suggests they can expect high levels of customer service.
Your industry and target market should determine the “dress code” for your website. If you’re a financial planner your website design should be the equivalent of a navy business suit. But if you sell skateboards then a t-shirt and cargo shorts design is OK. Pay attention to layout, typography, images and colours.
The acid test
For some strange reason many people’s expectations of design quality are downgraded when it comes to websites. But if it’s got your name on in it, it must look polished and professional. A good test of website design is whether it would look good printed out as a brochure or magazine ad.
About the author: Charles Cuninghame is an expert website copywriter and marketing trouble shooter who helps business owners and marketing managers attract more clients.
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