All posts filed in “web design and business”

Web Design Mistakes that May Make Your Site Visitor Unfriendly

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Jul. 21st 2010 in web design and businessNo Comments

Visitors are what make the internet go round and make sales for online retail sites as well. Every site or at least most, want more visitors. One of the best ways to do that is to make the environment as easy to get around in as possible and provide the visitor with the content they want quickly. Having said that leads naturally to the topic of visitor unfriendly web site design mistakes.

Even the experts in website design can fail occasionally and though an idea sounds good, it might look good to the designer, it is not visitor friendly and your sales and traffic statistics should let you know very quickly if you have violated one of these taboos that drive visitors away faster than the search engines can bring them. Though most experienced web design companies know to guide the website owner away from some of these mistakes, the owner attempting their own design may well stumble.

Do not lock your visitors in. You would not bar the door at a retail site if a visitor entered, most would get nervous seeing the staff run to the door and lock it. When a website takes control of a browser and disables the back buttons, resizes the windows or in any other way impedes the visitor’s movements you just barred the door. Once they leave, and they will find a way leave before buying, they likely will not return.

Do not put blinders on your visitors. In a retail store, it would be unthinkable for you to grab a pair of dark glasses and put them on the visitor in order to force them to sign up for a catalogue. Yet it has become common on the web to have flash popups, which obscure the content the visitor is searching for until they input an email, watch an ad or some other desired action. You will not make many sales by trying to force the customer in a given direction, respect your visitors.

Easy to use navigation may be a lot more favorable for sales than flashy scrolling menus. Beware too many “extras” they may look like the latest thing but all too often they hinder navigation and no one wants to keep a visitor from the sales page.

Check your links be sure they lead where you think. If you have a site that provides information on various topics or sells a number of different items then it can happen links are switched. If a visitor clicks on a link that should lead them to a page selling pet products, and instead leads them to a page dedicated to information on us immigration forms, us citizenship exam and USCIS information, the chances are your visitor will not only be confused but may have no way to find the items they wanted.

While there are many more errors that lay in ambush for the novice in website design, most site owners manage to avoid the worst of these and encourage that hard won traffic to remain on their sites and return to buy.

Web Design for Your Company

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Nov. 10th 2008 in web design and businessNo Comments

When you design your website there are many things to consider if you want to create the best site. These things you need to consider include the host, tools to build the site, content on the site, pictures, and more. These are the ingredients for an excellent website. If you don’t know how to do these things you can hire a web design company to do it for you.

If you have a business that is new and you want to start out online you will need a website. The first thing you will need to do is buy the domain name that you want your business to be known as. Be sure the name is catchy and easy to remember. You can buy a domain name through the hosting company you want to use also. You must choose a host to maintain the pages of your website. A host is the best option because they will provide support if you have problems, they are secure, and many more things.

When you build your website you need to consider your company. If you are selling prelit Christmas trees you will need to be sure the front page of your site makes it very clear to the public that you sell trees. It should be instantly recognized what it is that you do. In addition, you will need to create many different pages that give the users the ability to purchase trees from your site.

When you design a website you also want to build pages with content. Content can work for your advantage when you use it the right way. Content works with search engines so you don’t have to pay money for keywords to pull you up in search engine results. When you write the proper content it will also help you drive traffic to your site. For example, if you are selling artificial Christmas trees and you provide plenty of content when users search for artificial Christmas trees they will see your site listed at a higher rank of the search. It will do you no good to be listed on the 26th page of the search results. Content is everything and it will do wonders for your site.

When you build a website you should also provide plenty of pictures. Photos are good for users and they want to be able to see the products that you offer and what they are going to buy. If you offer a tree to buy that they cannot see in a photo users are most likely not to buy from you.

There are many things you need to do if you want to build the best site for your business. The main things you can do are find the right host, build the right pages, and use the right content. If you do not know how to build an optimal site or how to build a site that will work for you the best thing you can do is hire a web design company.

Article source: http://www.mywebecho.com/blog/web-design-for-your-company/