WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE WEBSITE?

There is a difference between having a website and having an effective website. A website displays your goods and services. An effective website converts visitors into paying customers.

Two things drive the effectiveness of your website - mechanics and marketing. The mechanics are the technical aspects of your site: how fast it loads, usability, etc. Marketing is copy (text) that entices your visitors to stay and explore your site.

Your designer should have an understanding of the following topics and should be able to discuss any of them with you.

WEBSITE MECHANICS

The mechanics of your website are the technical features that make it work and make it easy to use. Does the website load quickly, or do your visitors have to sit and wait? Can your visitors find their way around your site, or do they get lost trying to figure out your menus? Can all your visitors see your site, or does it get scrambled because they are using a different browser?

Loading Time

Research has shown that if your pages take more than ten seconds to load, you will lose a substantial portion of your visitors before they even see your site. Internet users can be impatient, and there are too many competing websites around to wait for slow web pages.

This should be a major design driver for your site.

To get your pages loaded quickly, keep the number of pictures and graphics to a minimum. All images should be as small as practical and should be compressed to reduce file size. If it is necessary to include large pictures, place them on interior pages and toward the bottom of the page so that your visitors can read text as the pages load.

Navigation

Your site navigation scheme (menus) must be intuitive and easy to follow. By the time your visitors get to the second page, they must understand how your site is arranged and how to get around. Pages must be clearly labeled in the main menu, and submenus must be very obvious. If visitors get lost in your site, they are much more likely to leave than they are to struggle with a confusing navigation scheme.

Browser Compatibility

Your website must be compatible with all common browsers and with all common computers. The Netscape browser and the Internet Explorer browser both have unique features. They each recognize web pages that the other browser cannot read. Websites also look different on Personal Computers (PCs) than they do on Macintosh computers (Macs). To be effective, your site must be designed to be viewable with either browser on any home computer.

Special Effects

The word on special effects - Don't! Special effects drive your development cost up and they drive your visitors away. Your visitors are looking for products, services, and information. They are not looking for "cool" effects, commercials, or things that slow page loading.

If you believe that adding special features (animations, music, flashing graphics, etc.) will add something to your site, put them on internal pages, not the first page.

Legibility

Finally, your site should be legible. Avoid small fonts and hard to read fonts (scripts, italics). Be sure that the font color provides high contrast with the page background so that it is easy to read. Poorly designed sites with illegible black text on dark backgrounds are all too common on the Internet. Don't let it happen on your site.

WEBSITE MARKETING

Getting the mechanics under control is only half the battle. It's what happens after the site is displayed on your visitors' monitors that determines how well your website meets its goals. This is the point where your visitors quickly skim over the contents of the page and decide whether your site will meet their needs or not. It is essential that you capture and hold their attention immediately or you will lose them forever.

This is why your site must be designed with a clear set of goals and a well-defined target audience. You have to know who your visitors are and what they need. Keep in mind that your visitors have come to your site looking for products, services, or information. Remember also that every visitor is only one mouse click away from leaving. If you can't convince them that you have what they want, they're gone.

You only have a few seconds to capture their interest.

Effective Copywriting

Fortunately, the techniques to do this are well known. They are written down in every Marketing 101 textbook. The same methods that work in print, on the radio, and on television also work on the Internet. It is just a matter of knowing and applying them. A good website designer will be able to help you with this by writing your copy or rewriting your first draft.

The basic guidelines are simple - start with well-written and useful content. Give your readers the information they came for. Lay out your pages so that they can be scanned quickly, using headlines, highlighting, and short bulleted lists to emphasize key ideas.

Once you have convinced your visitors that you have what they came for, you have to deliver. The information that you give them should be clear and concise. Paths to contacting you or to purchasing your products should be obvious and obstacle free.

If you don't know how to write captivating copy, select a designer who offers copywriting services in addition to website design services.