With so many websites competing to be found, your website should be a reflection of your business.  So what does it say when your website has some simple glaring problems?  You’ve just given your competitors a gift by giving your visitors an excuse to leave your site.  Getting in front of your potential customers, presenting your business professionally, and hopefully getting them to become a client – this is everyone’s ultimate goal. 

Here is a short list of easy things to look out for, that people have come to expect of a website. 

Clear and Easy Navigation. 

How easy is it for your visitors to find your information on your website?  When a visitor comes to your website for the very first time, can they find their way to the various parts of your website that can answer their possible questions? This is how you need to critically look at your pages. Your navigation should be easy to find, located on your page within the boundaries of convention. Your links should use words your visitors would use. Resist the urge to name your links something unusual just to stand out.  Your content and images should give you that edge.  And remember, the Home link should be accessible from all pages!  If the trail goes deeper than two or three levels, consider using “breadcrumbs” somewhere in the upper left hand side of the page to help your visitors know where they’ve come from. 

Clear, Clean Designs and Images.

White space tends to give a web page a feeling of openness.  We’re bombarded by so many images and colors when we surf the internet, that our eyes tend to rest upon the cleanness of white space.  Use it to your advantage.  Break up text into short paragraphs. Keep your images and designs clean and simple.  Images should be surrounded by white space so they stand out.     

Check for Broken Links. 

There is nothing more unprofessional than broken links.  Over time, outside links can change, and even the links within your own website can change.  Periodically test them on your site – and make sure they’re fixed as soon as a broken link is found.

Fast loading pages. 

No one likes to wait even a few seconds for a web page to load. If your page isn’t available in the short span of time that represents our patience, then your website may as well not be there.  It’s already competitive enough out there on the World Wide Web – don’t give your competitor the leg up by slowing down your load page times.   This is such a simple thing to do, and can mean the difference between getting your website in front of a potential customer or not! 

Browser Compatibility. 

Microsoft IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari – these are just some of the web browsers that people use to surf the internet.  Your web site should be tested using various versions of IE (6.0 and up), along with Firefox, Chrome and Safari.  If you’ve done your job right, then all will display as expected for the majority of your visitors.  Make sure your message is as professional looking as possible, by testing your layout in as many browsers as possible.  Remember, it’s all about your visitors’ experience. 

We all know that some web designs work better than others.  When you're browsing the internet, and clicking into a Google search page, you intuitively know by a glance when a website doesn't look professional, and immediately hit the back space to choose another site. 

What is it that makes a website look “right” to us?  Well, it starts with one rule:  Keep it simple.  Whether we're speaking of the layout, color, or content, by keeping it simple, you'll much likely persuade the user to stay on your site and learn more about your business.  And we all know that the longer someone spends on your site, the more likely they'll remember your business when its time to take that next step.

Yet, this wouldn't be a list of tips if I ended it there, so here's my variation of “Keeping it Simple”, my ideas on how to make your web design work for you.

Layout. 

Don't clutter up a page with links, photos, or many different objectives.  Keep your pages single focused and make sure your message is clear. Each web page has a purpose in its existence.  Make sure you know that purpose, that its clear to you – and ultimately to the user.  Everything on that page should be purposeful and moving me, as a user, towards your specified goal: whether it be to sign up for your newsletter, or to contact you about your services.

Consistency. 

Remember, you're building trust with your users – you want them to do business with you.  Keep the basic color and layout similar between pages, to give all pages on your site the same overall feel.  I don't want to click on a link within your site and be taken to what looks like a completely different website. 

Usability.

Navigation within your site should be clear and intuitive.  Keep your site navigation easy, and always allow a way for a user to get back to the home page.  If you have given thought to your site hierarchy and goals, then the navigation should follow that natural breakdown.  Give your user the information he's looking for – and give him or her a simple way to find it. 

Content.

Speak directly to them.  Your content should be conversational and friendly, informative and helpful.  Remember you're speaking to a person and your goal is to make them feel comfortable with your business – comfortable enough to do business with you.  Your internet user is a potential client.  Speak to them in such a way as you would if they were right in front of you. 

Color.

There's a whole depth of research behind colors – make sure you choose colors that are reassuring and calming.  Colors shouldn't scream out at you.  Your web design should be reflective of your business, from the layout, placement of the most important parts of your web page, right down to the use of space. 

So, by keeping your web design simple – in all aspects – you're much more likely to have a web design that functions as well as it looks.  Which, when you get right down to it, is exactly what you want.

There is no other marketing tool more important than your website.  I know I'm a bit biased, being that I'm a web designer, but it is this premise that drives me to build the best websites I can. 

For a crafted marketing tool, your website must have focused content that targets a specific audience.  It seems to me that this is one of the biggest challenges that separates a good website from a fantastic website. For all the pretty graphic designs mean nothing when it comes to search engines – their focus is purely on the content.  And let's face it, content is one of main reasons your website exists in the first place. 

Each web page on your website should be thought of as a separate entity, with a specific supporting role in reaching your web site's main goal. Your site should tell a story – where the home page is the summary, and each page is a chapter building up to your call-to-action.   Each web page should be focused, targeted, and built with specific goals in mind.  Knowing what you want to say is almost as important as how you say it.  And with web page content and search engine optimization, how you say it is absolute key. 

Identify Your Focus.

When analyzing your website, you need to organize your content into meaningful groups.  Each group will be an individual page.  For each page you should identify at least four or five topics to be discussed and identify the final call-to-action. By staying focused, and knowing your final goals, your content should be easier to write.  At the end of this step, you should have a clear list of what you want to accomplish on your web page – what you want to say and what you want the reader to do.

Identify Your Audience.

Before you can actually begin writing, though, you first need to identify your target market audience.  Who do you expect this page content to be useful for?  By identifying who will be searching for you, you can tailor your message towards those individuals, answering their questions that brought them to the search engine in the first place.

Identify Your Keywords.

Now you know what you want to say, and who you are writing it for.  But the challenge still remains:  to make your web content simply fantastic, you must now focus on HOW you say it.  And the first step to doing so, is you must identify your keywords.  How do you expect your customers to find you?  What words do you expect them to type into a search engine to find you?  Answering these simple questions are key to beginning work on your page.  By knowing how you expect to be found,  you have identified the keywords you expect to be used to find your web page. 

Identify Your Page Title and Summary Description.

Lastly, you need to focus on the page title and description.  These are something built into the web page HTML, and shows up in the search engine results page linking to your website.  They are known as meta tag data.  The title can be found at the very top left hand corner of your browser when your page is displayed, and is also the link to your website on the search engine results page.  Your description is the words found under your link on the search engine results page.  Both should be a descriptive teaser, as it is the first information someone browsing the web sees about your website. When constructing both of these fields, consider including your identified keywords and company name, focusing on grabbing attention.  Remember,  you must build relevance to why they would want to visit your link, from all the links returned on their results page.  Keep in mind, both of these fields are limited in the number of characters, so place the most important information first.

So, now what?  You should now have a good idea of what you want to say, who you are saying it to, and the goal of the web page.   Now its time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and begin writing. Use your keywords (and variations of them) scattered in your text, remembering to build relevance and writing with your goal in mind (identified in your first step). You are on your way to creating a purely fantastic website!