Developing a website of your own is essential to succeeding in an online business. An attractive site lets others know that you mean business. But you need to learn how to properly design a website, so read on.
When you are designing a website, it is important to have proper spelling and grammar. In addition to running spell-check on your content, ask a friend or co-worker to proofread everything. Having good spelling and grammar on your website will help give it a professional feel and your visitor will be more likely to return.
Avoid using so-called “mystery meat navigation”. This involves using unlabeled images or other elements for the site’s navigation. In many cases, the visitor has to mouse over the buttons to even see what they do. Navigation is best kept simple. Use text links across the top or along the left side of the page.
Personalize your site. Your clients want to feel comfortable with you, so use testimonials from trusted customers, as well as photographs of people. Building trust with your customers is very important, so be sure to let them know you personally care about the product or service you are providing them.
Know what your subject is. Research your subject before posting anything. Giving your customers unclear or false information will only cause you to lose readers. Blogging requires knowing your intended audience.
While you want to keep the aesthetics of your site in mind, you also need to make every effort to keep your file sizes to a minimum. Your file sizes have a lot to do with the speed of your site loading. You always want your site to load as quickly as it can. You must also be aware that everyone doesn’t have a high speed connection to the Internet. Perform tests on your website to make sure that it loads fast, even when a dial-up connection is used.
Do not use blinking, scrolling text or other animations. Also, steer clear of sounds or music that plays automatically. All of these things are distracting to users and provide nothing of value. In addition, connection speeds vary from one site visitor to the next, and everyone does not have the same speed. Those users with slower connections will resent the slow-loading elements of your site.
If you desire feedback from your visitors, design your site to include a feedback form rather than a guestbook. A feedback form lets your site visitors contact you without having anything negative be shown to everyone else who sees your site. If you have a guestbook then everyone can read both good and bad comments, something you really do not want people to see, especially when the comments are negative.
Your first step should be learning how to build your site, and the second is to start designing it. It is recommended that you refer back to the suggestions offered here while laying out the rough draft of your design and lead it down the path to an effective live site. You’ll reach your website traffic goals quickly by applying what you’ve learned here.
