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The design of the majority of websites focuses on functionality and/or
design, but in order for a website to be a success, other aspects must
be taken into consideration.
These factors include:
* Usability: Is your audience able to locate what they are looking for?
* Functionality: How efficient is your website operation?
* Appearance/Brand Image: Is the website accurately & attractively reflecting the business brand?
* SEO: How much visibility does your website possess in terms of search engines?
Is the Site Easy to Use?
Usability
is a term related to the ability of audiences to locate what they are
seeking on your website. When a user has to spend too much time and
thought on how to maneuver around a website, they will become frustrated
and will not stay there long. All users will want the answer to a
question, and they should have that answer within moments.
Questions
that are commonly not dealt with clearly on e-commerce sites include
those that have to do with finding contact information, purchasing
procedures and hours of operation. During the design of the website,
these easy questions are frequently overlooked, but they can have a
strong bearing on how useful users find a website to be and how much
credibility the site has.
How well does the site function?
Functionality
refers to the efficiency of a website's performance. Examples of
functionality problems include pages and media content that load
sluggishly, inoperable links and error pages. The majority of users have
broadband options available to them, but in rural areas, it is not
always available. If media files are unusually large, advise the user
that loading the media may take a bit longer, or make different versions
available so that users can select the file that they wish to see.
Browser
compatibility is something else that needs to be addressed. A site may
not present itself as it should if you are using a browser that needs
updating. Designs should be compatible with previous browser versions
and a number of browsers, including Internet Explorer and Mozilla
Firefox. Be sure to always keep in mind your target viewers, and make an
effort to factor in technical variations.
Is the Brand Reflected on the Site?
Two
important factors in developing a sense of credibility and in
maintaining consistency in all marketing endeavors are aesthetics and
branding. When designing a site, make certain that you take into
consideration your desired audience demographic. For instance, if senior
citizens are your target audience, make the site appealing to them by
making links easy to find and by permitting the re-sizing of fonts.
When
marketing to people in their 20's play with visually stimulating
interactive and social media. Keep the site simple, or it may become too
frustrating to the user. The visitor should know when they get to the
site where they are and who they are visiting every time. The logo
should be clearly displayed on every page.
Is your website properly "optimized"?
You
shouldn't overlook the importance of search engine optimization. SEO is
a method of configuring a website so that it can be found and indexed
correctly by major search engines, such as Yahoo and Google. If your
website is indexed appropriately, the odds of it being seen by web
searchers using search engines is nearly 50%! A professional usually
provides SEO, though basic information can be provided by the books and
resources that are available.
Successful Website Design
A
completed website is likely to be a success if the web designer
concentrates on usability, functionality, aesthetics/brand and SEO. A
website is considered a success if it can be found by search engines,
attracts the target audience, keeps the audience's attention for a
fairly long time, simplifies the tasks of locating information and
making purchases, and fosters a feeling of credibility and confidence.
Stephen Grisham, Sr. is a copy writer for InfoServe Media, LLC. InfoServe Media is a web design and web hosting company. Or if you just need a few changes to an existing site, InfoServe Media also offers website maintenance. Fast and Affordable.
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