WEBSITE DESIGN - PRETTY VS PROFITS
(written by Anything Creative)

So you have your business model and you know what your marketing message is.  What now? The next step in the evolutionary cycle is the creation of your website. 

The key to a successful website design is to make it pretty, but also profitable. Unfortunately, very often you get one or the other, and the trick is to find the right balance. We’ve listed a few pointers that will help you in this process.

1. WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON FOR YOUR WEBSITE?

What function must your website fulfill? 

1. Do you want to generate sales and have customers buy online?
2. Should they call you for an appointment?
3. Should they subscribe to your newsletter / directory listing?

Whatever the main reason for your website, make sure it’s obvious.  Some ways of doing this are by having a flashing image (but use flashing images sparingly – usually 1 per/page),  or make this message a different / bigger font to the rest of the page, or have a bigger button linking to the page.  You can also make several references in your text to emphasise the message.

2. KEEP YOUR WEBSITE CLEAN

Navigation of your website needs to be as simple and user-friendly as possible.  Consider that you may have someone who knows very little about websites / computers – guide them through your website and have various ways of completing one action (e.g. have a button to the subscribe page in your navigation and also in your text tell them that they can subscribe by clicking here.)

Don’t overcrowd your website, with too many messages on one page.  Keep each page simple and clean, conveying only one thing that the customer needs to do.

Use a few colors on your website and keep the font Arial or Verdana – this will help customers read your website easily. Make visiting your website visually enjoyable, by not bombarding the viewer with too many colors, flashing images or bold text. 

Also try using a two-column website, as customers are used to having the navigation down the left hand side and your text in the middle.  Some variations (i.e. navigation at the top) also do work well.

3. CUSTOMERS ARE IMPATIENT

Remember, as with all things, people are generally impatient.  Customers will not wait long for your website to download before they can start viewing it. Your website should take no longer than 15 seconds to load. If you have a flash intro, have a button where customers can skip the intro and move onto the website itself.

Lots of big images and flash files, take some time to download and will slow the process of viewing your website.  Use these sparingly.

4. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)

The Search Engine Optimisation of your website is an integral part of your website design, and will help in directing customers to your websites.

A few good ideas on increasing the SEO on your website are:

1. Choose a few keywords and choose them wisely. Choose two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site.
2. Have a good text paragraph on each of your pages, which incorporates the keywords that you have chosen. Don’t be afraid of repeating your keywords.
3. Title tags are vital, as search engines give them a lot of weight. A title tag is the page name that appears on the browser banner.  Incorporate your company’s name.
4. External links from other websites.  Get your website listed on other websites, by supplying free articles or link exchanges.
5. Choose good Meta tags, Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions.
6. Don't expect quick results. It takes time to get high rankings on search engines. Be patient.

Having said all this, great websites were never designed overnight and you may find that you go down either the 'Pretty’ path or the ‘Profits’ route initially, but don’t worry, keep the above pointers in mind and make adjustments as you go along, and you’ll eventually find the right balance that works for you.