Who cares if your website impresses yourself? You won't make much money selling products to yourself you're looking for new customers. They, not you, have to come first when it comes to designing your site. There are six important rules to follow.
Rule #1: Make your site fast. People have broadband for a reason, so if your site takes forever to load, they're going to seek their business elsewhere. Make sure your page is simple enough to load in an instant. This way, they won't leave out of boredom.
Rule #2: Don't make users download anything. Sure, ActiveX and other technologies can do amazing things but they're a pain to install, and open up users to viruses or other bad things. HTML is powerful enough to do whatever you need it to.
Rule #3: Be classy. This means no annoying MIDI music, no animated GIFs, and definitely no blinking text. If you want customers to see you as a trustworthy source, you need to exemplify class in your web site. Nothing turns people off more than tackiness.
Rule #4: Don't "Do-it-yourself" on a business page. If you are building a personal page and learning to create your own HTML code, then that's OK, but if you want professional results then go for professional custom web design. Like it or not, businesses are judged by their storefronts, and if your electronic storefront looks junky, you are going to turn off potential customers.
Rule #5: Know your audience. If you're selling tools, fluffy bunnies are probably not going to attract the consumers you're looking for. Understand the market segments and demographic groups that are going to be your target audience, and design your site around them.
Rule #6: Webmasters are the key. If you don't hire a talented webmaster, your site is doomed. Hire someone who is a good fit for your product and whatever presence you plan on having and while not every webmaster can know everything, make sure yours knows exactly how your web site works and how to fix it. Believe it every web site goes down eventually, and a good webmaster can make sure your site isn't down for the count.
Custom web design comes down to, once and for all, good design principles. Play by the rules, and you'll have an inexpensive but customizable site within your budget and appealing to your core audience. Plan ahead, and you'll have great results.
Rule #1: Make your site fast. People have broadband for a reason, so if your site takes forever to load, they're going to seek their business elsewhere. Make sure your page is simple enough to load in an instant. This way, they won't leave out of boredom.
Rule #2: Don't make users download anything. Sure, ActiveX and other technologies can do amazing things but they're a pain to install, and open up users to viruses or other bad things. HTML is powerful enough to do whatever you need it to.
Rule #3: Be classy. This means no annoying MIDI music, no animated GIFs, and definitely no blinking text. If you want customers to see you as a trustworthy source, you need to exemplify class in your web site. Nothing turns people off more than tackiness.
Rule #4: Don't "Do-it-yourself" on a business page. If you are building a personal page and learning to create your own HTML code, then that's OK, but if you want professional results then go for professional custom web design. Like it or not, businesses are judged by their storefronts, and if your electronic storefront looks junky, you are going to turn off potential customers.
Rule #5: Know your audience. If you're selling tools, fluffy bunnies are probably not going to attract the consumers you're looking for. Understand the market segments and demographic groups that are going to be your target audience, and design your site around them.
Rule #6: Webmasters are the key. If you don't hire a talented webmaster, your site is doomed. Hire someone who is a good fit for your product and whatever presence you plan on having and while not every webmaster can know everything, make sure yours knows exactly how your web site works and how to fix it. Believe it every web site goes down eventually, and a good webmaster can make sure your site isn't down for the count.
Custom web design comes down to, once and for all, good design principles. Play by the rules, and you'll have an inexpensive but customizable site within your budget and appealing to your core audience. Plan ahead, and you'll have great results.
About the Author:
Stephen Grisham, Sr. is a Staff Writer for InfoServe Media, a Houston Web design company that provides custom web page design. Visit today, or call 1 (800) 838-2203 for a free quote.
No comments:
Post a Comment