What annoys an Internet user the most? A quick unscientific survey of a resident Internet café suggests the top three turn-offs are: Sites that are very slow to download; Ones that are confusing to use; Sites that do not contain the promised information; The single most common reaction to sites like these is that the visitor very quickly moves on to another web site. Clearly, if you get things wrong there is usually no second chance. How can you avoid this happening to your business? Well, here are twenty tips to facilitate you when designing or redesigning your company"s web site. Begin with a clear understanding of the purpose of your site. Is the aim of your site to sell, entertain, or inform? The design of your site should be consistent with its purpose. The requirements for a site selling software online will be very different from disclose the web site of a community community newspaper. Plan the site with the customer in mind. Imagine how your customers (exis
ting and prospects) will manipulate your site. Consider their reasons for visiting and their needs. Something that looks logical to you may not appear so to a first-time visitor. Design for cross-browser compatibility. Although Internet Explorer dominates, do not overlook those community who apply alternatives such as Mozilla, Opera and Netscape. Fabricate trustworthy your site can be viewed in other browsers; that road you will not unintentionally reduce the number of visitors to your site. Choose simplicity over complexity. Unless you are a design society showcasing its skills, keep things simple. Visitors (especially frequent ones) may not be impressed by your complex animated graphics expressly if they serve no apparent useful purpose. Practise it simple for visitors to get to the content - that is what most of them are coming to your site for anyway. Build the navigation intuitive and easy to use. This is probably one of the two most meaningful aspects of designing
a web site, the other being content. Cause your site"s navigation logical and clear. Ensure the most essential and most often-accessed counsel is easy to find. Link names should be concise and self-explanatory. Proof navigational links to assemble certain they employment and keep them up-to-date. Your site should be as visually appealing as possible. Visual appeal is subjective however the design of your site will undoubtedly influence customers" perceptions of your business as a whole. An uncluttered layout, careful choice of font vastness and colors and appropriate employ of graphics and images should go a extensive course to ensuring your site creates a great impression of your business. Apply a consistent design or "look and feel" to your site. Keep design consistent across your site unless you thirst for your visitors to appeal themselves whether they have wandered into another company"s site by accident. Integrate your web site design with your offline branding. For
many, the Internet is still an alien environment so reassure your customers by applying the same branding online as you do offline. After all, if you have spent a group of money building your brand why spends more appearing to build an entirely different online brand (unless, of course, this is your intention). Keep sheet immensity manageable to ensure speedy downloads. Online visitors" patience is measured in milliseconds and not everyone has hi-speed or broadband Internet connections. So, keep leaf sizes within reasonable limits to ensure that they download quickly. Optimize graphic proportions and avoid putting an image on a stage unless it adds something for the visitor. Ensure your site"s content reflects its purpose. If yours is a sales site for example, ensure that your content concentrates on selling. Stay focused and avoid the temptation to upload content that is not relevant to your web site"s purpose. Enable quick and easy location of information. Quite simp
ly, most customers will quickly leave your site if they cannot locate the facts they are seeking. Internet users increasingly require news to be instantly available and there is no shortage of other sites eager to appropriate business from you. Think what info customers are likely to desire and do not hide it away. Create undeniable content is relevant, accurate and up-to-date. Provide accurate and relevant content and keep it up-to-date. Failure to do this will generate your collection inspect inefficient and reflects badly on your customer work levels. Search engines also appreciate content that is updated regularly. Encourage interaction. Get visitors to interact with your site and spend more generation on it. Constitute a visit an interesting training for them by including useful online tools, etc. Just produce persuaded they are relevant to your site. Personalize your site. Depending on the technology you have available to you, it may be likely to greet visitors to
your site by reputation and serve up content tailored specifically to their needs. If you can do it then do so. Invite dialogue. Give your customers the opportunity to contact you via email, online forms, a call-back/call-me facility, web chat, etc. Entreat for their feedback via online surveys and feedback forms. Invite them to subscribe to a customer newsletter. Acknowledge customer contact. It is common courtesy to asseverate "thank you". Very petite effort is required to locate up an email auto-responder. When requiring customers to complete and submit a form, make confident there is a "thank you" event or pop-up. It reassures the customer that you have received their communication and does not leave them wondering whether or not your site is working properly. Make it a "seamless" experience. Aim to give customers the same level of advantage online as you give them offline. Your goal should be to facilitate the customer"s interaction with your association and allow
them to choose how to do business with you. You know that customers are your most valuable asset and that retaining them is vitally important. Give your customers support. Reassure visitors to your site by providing elements such as aid pages, FAQ"s, a site map, terms of handle and a privacy policy. They will appreciate it. Inspire confidence. Ensure that your site works properly and its content is up-to-date. Check misapprehension messages make sense and forms and data entry fields are logical. Get someone to proofread your site and spot any grammatical and spelling mistakes. The quality of your site tells customers a piece about the quality of function they can expect from you. Get to know your customers. Learn as much as you can about your customers and the course of action they application your site (and, if you can, find away how they utilize your competitors" sites). Then exercise this learning to improve your site and increase your send on investment. The number
of web sites is growing every day and nowadays just about anyone can create one. If you hope for your site to stand absent from the rest, plan it carefully and design it with your customers in mind. Far also many web site owners just do not bother. Full text: http://computerandtechnologies.com/web-hosting/news_2008-04-01-23-30-03-104.html
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