Website design

You probably already know how important it is to have a website with a fresh design . It's the 21 st century and people expect to find all the information they need on the internet , and they're not going to stay on your website for longer than 5 seconds if it's messy and they can't find what they need!

How you should approach your website design

Don't think of a website as just an information section on the web forming an extension of your printed media. Think of it as an inexpensive, cost effective marketing tool that takes your products and/or services into every household across the globe. Here's what you should be considering when evaluating your website design:

•  Keep it fresh. Many websites are designed in a way that makes updating and changing the content (which you need to do to keep your customers interested!) very difficult. Make sure your website designers are going to make it easy for you to put new info and pages up when you need to.

•  Pages should load fast. Although many graphic designers like to show off their skills by splashing neat website effects all over the place, it's not always the right way to design a website. If you have too much fancy stuff on your pages, it will take longer to load and people will leave your site if it's not done loading in ten or 15 seconds. Even if you have a fast internet connection, not everyone does and 56k modems still exist. Get website experts to advise you, don't just follow any advice blindly.

•  Text should read easy. Think of how many customer calls you could be cutting down on if they were able to navigate through your website with ease? If you're selling high-tech stuff, write in a way that customers will understand and make sure your website design shows them exactly where to click and what to do.

•  Build your website to reach your objectives. Make your website work for you. If you have a mail order or retail business, and want to expand sales, but have a tight marketing budget use you website as your cyber store front without having to pay for printing and mailing catalogues.

•  Design for browser compatibility. Many people do not use Internet Explorer on Windows. Make sure your site is at least viewable in Mozilla Firefox and Opera (if possible, you could even try testing on a Mac). Sites that target markets like technology should be more careful, since readers are more likely to use the newest browsers and gadgets like PDAs.

Putting a website together requires a blend of publishing, a good user interface and technology. Not everyone is graphic designers or website developers, so we've set up a simple checklist for you to see if you have the basics before starting with your website revamp.

Website Design Checklist

•  Make sure your website has a URL (i.e. www.yourcompany.co.za )

•  Get a hosting provider for the URL

•  Do you have copy that you can use for your website? If you don't – start writing!

•  Think of what your website structure should look like. What pages do you need on your website? The __easiest way to achieve this is to create an outline of the structure you would like for your site.

•  Do you have all the graphic materials for your site e.g. photos, video clips,

•  Organise all your company information for the website (home, about us, products, services etc.)

•  Do you need a database or eCommerce database developed for your website ? This will influence the __setup of your website and how it is designed.

•  What are your marketing goals for the site? (e.g. search engine marking, online marketing, off line __marketing?

If you have all or most of the above answers you are ready to develop your new website or even revamp your existing website into a more user friendly client based information package that will reach your target market more profoundly. Make sure your potential customers are getting to your website and that they are able to use! Don't let your competitors take your potential clients because your website isn't giving internet users the information they need.

In this case optimising you website is as important as the actual website design. Remember, in a successful website, it's the graphics that grab you, but it's the text that does the selling.

Need help with your website?