Great website design is the result of careful thought and planning. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner creating your first website or if you are an experienced webmaster and it doesn't matter if you build your website using a simple program like notepad or a WYSIWYG HTML editor like Dreamweaver - what makes the difference is your plan. You decide what to include on your website and how to present it. If you spend time thinking about your website's design before you start building it you will create an excellent site that visitors will return to again and again.
Your website has to be quick to load, nice to look at, easy to use and navigate. People will remember if your website was full of useful information or if it was a jumbled maze full of pop-ups, pop-unders and flashing gifs that they could not make any sense out of. Keep this in mind as you create your website.
The Golden Rule of Website Design
So you might ask "How do I design my website?" The answer is to focus your website on solving a problem. People are on the internet to find answers - create your website to meet that need. Find a niche and provide high-quality, unique content people are looking for.
You can make your website a huge success by focusing on solving users' problems. Take Google for example - their website is an extremely simple, clean design that contains their logo and a box for you to enter what you are searching for - nothing on the webpage distracts the user from the solution they offer. When you visit google's website there is no question who they are and what they do. They are focused on quickly providing the visitor with relevant search results. That is why they have one of the most successful websites ever created.
All other elements of website design are secondary to filling the visitor's need. They will simply click away to the next website looking for a solution if you can't help them.
What is the problem that you have the solution for? For instance: Do you have the secret to making money on the internet? Can you teach someone how to housebreak a pet? Decide what solutions you can offer and then write them down. This is your mission statement. Keep this list handy and refer to it often as you design your website so you don't get sidetracked. Users' needs are not necessarily hard to fulfill but one website can not solve all users' problems, so don't try to. Focus on the solution you offer the user and concentrate on how to deliver it. Meeting expectations
Now that you've figured out what you can offer your users you have to focus on delivering that solution. People looking for answers want them now! Studies have shown that you only have a few seconds to get a visitor's attention and hold it before they click away - don't waste any time. Tell the user what you have to offer right away. Don't use intro pages that take too long to load. People want to get to your content and you should remove anything that gets between the user and the information. Guide them to their goal with as few "clicks" as possible. Plan to succeed
Many people get frustrated when they try to build a website simply because they don't do any planning. If you jump in and start writing HTML with no plan you may find yourself lost and so will your visitors. Before you start up your computer get out a pencil and some paper. Create a diagram that illustrates how your website will be layed out.
Build your website one page at a time focusing on one topic per page. As you add new content expand your website diagram adding new pages in a logical order. This will make it much easier for you to build your site and for visitors to find their way around. If you follow a plan you will avoid leading viewers to blank pages, dead links or having them run in circles trying to navigate your website.
Don't worry if you think your website is not perfect. No website is ever totally finished. You should always be fine-tuning and updating your content. Website construction is an ongoing process. Build - review - add new content - repeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment