Designing a Web site that looks good, is easy to use and keeps users coming back is no easy task. While users may be attracted to the look and feel of the site, they'll stay because of what you have to offer and how easily they can get it. Even the best Web sites are at times lacking when it comes to the basics of good design.
The fact is, most mainstream Web users have now been "trained" to navigate a Web site in a certain way. When we're reading a book, we expect to see a title on the front cover, a table of contents inside, page numbers at the bottom, and chapters that break up the content. The Internet is no different. Impatient Web users expect to have information presented to them in a similar "Web" fashion. There's still room for creativity though. After all, we all want to stand out from our competition.
Follow the rules users have defined for us, and you'll be surprised at the results.
Let's examine what it takes to create a site that has a lasting impact on your users but also helps you leverage a valuable tool, the Web, in your business.
Design a good homepage
The homepage should clearly communicate what the company does, the value it offers the user and the products and services the company offers. Be creative. Consider making the homepage design slightly different from interior pages. It should have a memorable and distinct look so users recognize it as a starting place when coming from any part of the site.
Remember, the homepage is an important doorway into your site, but it's not the only one. A visitor using any major search engine will be able to potentially enter your site through any page. For more extensive tips on designing an effective homepage, see our August 2003 eNewsletter article, "Is Your Homepage Inspiring?"
Understand your target audience.
Define each type of visitor that might visit the site and organize content in a way that will drive the user deep into the site. Create "pathways" that invite the user to take action. These pathways, or "calls to action" are important to include on every page of site. Without them, the user is left with nothing to do.
Design the calls to action around your objectives for the site. Whether your site's objective includes increasing revenues, generating leads or simply sharing information, design the "calls to action" around these objectives. A call to action might be "buy now", "get more information", "take a tour", "download" or "sign up".
Use examples to reveal the site's content, rather than just describing it. Well-chosen examples can convey much more than words alone. For example, use small pictures of a product to help users visualize what you're selling.
Write content for the Web user not the brochure reader
While traditional print marketing materials are a good starting point for writing content, the typical Web site user wants information presented in a different way than what they see in print. Keep content short and simple. Users want useful information served up quickly in scannable chunks. Short paragraphs and bulleted lists are ideal.
Include a descriptive tagline (3 to 7 words) about your products or services. Avoid cute and clever phrases that don't really tell users the value you offer them. Position the tagline in the header near your logo.
Avoid redundant content. Repeating identical items such as categories or links in order to emphasize their importance actually reduces their impact.
Use customer-focused language and avoid clever phrases and marketing lingo that tend to make users work too hard to figure out what you're saying.
Write content in a way that is search engine friendly to improve rankings. Search engine spiders crawl a site looking for plain old text to index. Avoid putting important content in images that can't be indexed. More on this in a future article!
Navigation is key
A visitor to your site may choose to stay or leave based solely on your navigation scheme. Create understandable, easy-to-use navigation that is consistent throughout the site. Be sure site wide navigation displays throughout the site regardless of what section the user is visiting. Include a "Home" page link on every page of the site (except on the homepage) for users to quickly get back to your main site.
Group items in the navigation area so that similar items are next to each other. For example, group corporate information such as ‘About Us', ‘Contact Us', ‘Investors', ‘Client Login' and other information about the company in one distinct area. Likewise, if the products area is extensive, consider grouping them in another area distinct for products, similar the example above.
Don't provide multiple navigation areas for the same type of links. Groups that are too similar can fragment and complicate the interface, making the user work too hard to create order and meaning.
Include a standard footer on each page. Provide general Web site information in the footer that displays on every page. This information might include contact us, site map, legal and copyright information. If your site gathers any customer information include a "Privacy Policy" link here. Use a rule of "7". Keep the number of links in the footer to 7 or less. Keep the number of global navigation elements to seven or less also.
Go easy on the graphics
They may look pretty but if used too much, graphics can overpower the page and take up valuable real estate that could be used to drive users into the site. Show the company name and/or logo in a reasonable size and noticeable location (usually in the upper left), consistently throughout the site. Generally, images should consume no more than 5-15% of the space on the page. Use alt tags for all images for those with text only browsers or users with disabilities.
Avoid watermark graphics (background images with text on top of them). It makes reading text on the screen more difficult. Avoid the use of frames. Frames can be cumbersome for users and could impede a search engine spider's ability to properly crawl and index content on the site.
Flash intros or multi media sites may be visually appealing but give your user the option to skip through these portions of the site.
Make the Web site easy to read
Use high-contrast text and background colors so that type is as legible as possible. White backgrounds with black text provide the best readability. Other text and background colors are generally used in navigation areas.
Be consistent with text formatting. Limit font styles, sizes and colors. Make font styles for left navigation and body text similar. Generally a 10 to 12 point san-serif font is a good guideline for most users. Use consistent capitalization and other style standards, avoid exclamation marks, use all uppercase letters sparingly and spell out abbreviations and acronyms.
Design for the target demographic
The most common screen resolution is still is 800x600. However, as users upgrade their computers to larger monitors, many are opting for higher screen resolutions such as 1024 x 768. To accommodate multiple screen resolutions, use a "liquid layout" whenever possible so the page size adjusts automatically to different screen resolutions. However, avoid horizontal scrolling by keeping content within 800x600 on the screen.
Include the most critical items "above the fold" thereby not requiring users scroll down. Add a visual clue when content falls below the fold to encourage users to scroll. Generally, avoid user scrolling beyond 2 to 3 pages.
Make links functional
You may be going for clever and cute, but the user just wants to know what to do and what they've done. Allow link colors to show visited and unvisited pages. Reserve blue or some other consistent color for unvisited links and use a clearly discernable and less saturated color for visited links. Use links in navigation areas in a different state to show users where they're currently at on the site.
Use meaningful text in the link names to tell users what they'll get when they click whenever possible. If a link goes to anything other than got to another Web page, such as linking to a PDF file, tell users what actions follow links.
Give users a site map
Add a site map to the site. It's good “spider food” for search engines and a highly usable feature for users who are less visual and just want a quick blueprint of your site.
Offer a search feature
The search feature should display in the same place on every page and allow the user to search the entire site. If you're using a third party search function that redirects the user to display search results, make sure search results page maintains the look and feel of the main site.
Faster is better
At most a page should download in 10 seconds at the prevalent connection speed for your users. For modem users this means a file size of 50 KB or less. Ensure that all graphical images are optimized for the Web.
Again, designing a Web site that looks good, is easy to use and keeps users coming back is no easy task. While users may be attracted to the look and feel of the site, they'll stay because of what you have to offer and how easily they can get it. Applying these principles will get you one step closer to just that.
If you have any comments or questions about any Aware InSites, feel free to contact us at info@awarewebsolutions.com or call 800-783-8919.