Keeping Your Website Simple is most effective

Posted by Paul Coulter on: 2006-04-11 13:34:41

Self SEO > Web Design Articles

What do the Internet’s most profitable websites such as Dell, Amazon and Yahoo all have in common? They are plain, simple, and easy to use. The most effective web sites do not employ fancy graphics or animations to sell their products and services because these distractions take away from the goal of a website – selling! Your goal is to sell your products, services, and yourself – not impress people with your technical prowess. It just does not make sense to pay a website development company thousands of dollars to design a fancy website that will not be as effective as its cheaper, simpler counter-part.

Most web designers make the mistake of using extravagant, but slow-loading graphics and Flash animations. These elements may make a website visually impressive, but neglects a large percentage of Internet users who have dial-up connections. Potential clients and customers are not going to wait 30 seconds to a minute for your home page to load up; they’ll soon be using their browser’s “Back” to get back to Google’s search results and do business with a competitor who has a more user friendly website.

Understand Your Target Audience

Younger generations may be more adept to using Internet Technology, but it can be a difficult concept for older generations to grasp. So, it is important not to make your website more complicated than necessary. As said by the late Albert Einstein, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Designing a simple website involves a clean page layout using minimal, but attractive graphics to ensure fast loading, non-cluttered pages. Designing a site’s navigation structure that is notably visible and allows easy access to all of a website’s content ensures that a potential customer or client can easily find the information they are searching for. A good web designer will also ensure that a client’s website is cross-browser compatible, so that the site will look consistent to Internet users with different versions of Internet browsers. It is also essential to take screen resolutions in to consideration. The website should appear correctly for all users, whether they are using 600 x 800, 1024 x 768, or any other screen resolution. Therefore, web designers must take into consideration that some Internet users still use a 15” monitor and 800 x 600 screen resolution.

Content is King

So far we’ve established that when it comes to professional business website design, simpler is better. So, how do you enhance the experience for visitors to your website if you can’t impress them with your technical ability? The best way is to incorporate interesting and useful content into your website. Use detailed product and service information on your website – the more the better. After all, these people visited your website to read more about your products and services, so why not give them more of what they want? It is also a good idea to write or post articles of interest related to your products or services. Use these articles to your advantage by conveying to your clients or customers that you are indeed an expert in your field. Oh, and one last thing – make it easy for them to find this information and don’t confuse or distract them.

About the Author
Paul Coulter is a freelance web designer from Ontario, Canada. Contact him by visiting his website: Paul Coulter, Freelance Web Designer

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