To build a successful internet site it is important to take a large range of internet variables into consideration.
It is not enough to have a nice looking site. To build a successful site it is important to make sure that your site is built correctly, is updated, with comprehensive navigation, appropriate and important information, correctly categorized information and is correctly marketed.
8 components for building a successful internet site:
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Overall Look of the Site |
When a web surfer goes into a site it takes him or her 5 seconds to decide if he or she will stay in the site or move on to a different site.
To make the right first impression of reliability and high quality it is important that your home page gives out the exact message that you want to broadcast.
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Appeal |
After the surfer has decided to stay in your site, it is important to interest the surfer within a few seconds. (On average it takes about 15 seconds for a surfer to decide if the site is interesting or not)
To make a site interesting it is important to have teasers of the different categories in your site on the home page.
You will need to decide what interests your target market the most and emphasize these categories.
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Quick Loading |
It is a well known fact that internet surfers do not have patience to wait for a site page to load for over 5 seconds.
For this reason it is not a good idea to have long flash presentations or opening pages that take a long time to load. You may end up losing over half of your potential clients before even entering your site.
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Design |
Although design and originality are important, if taken too far, can make the navigation in your site complicated and unfriendly. See usable interface
In many instances, if your site is over designed you can lose important information and your original point in needless “cool design”.
It is important that your design correctly represents your company and is easy to understand and navigate.
It is also important not to have too many colorful objects or moving objects that tire the surfers’ eye and make it hard to concentrate on the object of the site.
When designing your site it is important to know what the point of the web page is and put an emphasis on it. You can do this by either making the object, logo or text larger, more colorful or placing it in the center or top left corner of the web page.
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Your site should be clear and understandable. |
The navigation bar should stay in the same place, be clear and available throughout the whole site.
All titles, paragraphs, fonts and font colors should be readable and organized.
The same fonts, colors and font sizes should be used throughout the entire site.
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Privacy Policies |
Many people are apprehensive to give their email, contact information or credit card information in a web site.
For this reason it is important to have a privacy policy. It is important to write what you intend to do with their info, give them the possibility to remove themselves from your mailing list and always write if your site is a secure site.
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Copywriting |
After you have succeeded in interesting the surfer and keeping him or her in your site it would be a pity if they encounter spelling or grammar mistakes or even simply unintelligible writing.
For this reason it is important to have a professional copywriter or someone who at least writes decent go over your text before publishing in your site.
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Added Value |
To set your site apart from others it is important to have an added value that is useful to your target market free of charge.
For instance:
- Links to related sites, giving them additional important information.
- Articles on subjects of the site.
- The possibility to get answers to questions they may have, free of charge.
While design and creativity are an important part of your web site, if your navigation is difficult to understand you will be losing many less durable users and second time visitors. In addition, much of your important information will not be accessed.
Therefore it is very important to have your site map planned before the design process begins.
Planning a site map may be more difficult than it seems, but when done correctly, will definitely make the rest of the site construction process simpler and more time efficient.
In order to plan your site map you will need to determine what information or options you want to be in your site, then categorize this information into comprehensive overhead titles. This information can then be used as guidelines for constructing your site.
For instance, if you own a car repair garage and you sell used car parts as well, your site map may look as follows:
- Home Page
- Company Profile
- Car repair services
- Radiators
- Oil change
- And so on
- Used car parts
- Radiators
- Axels
- And so on
- Contact us
After you have completed this you will need to decide what information is most important to you in order to determine the order and place in which they will appear in your site.
If your overhead titles are long, numerous or dynamic, you should decide on having a vertical navigation bar in your site. Otherwise you may choose between a horizontal or vertical navigation bar depending on your site design.
The main navigation bar should always stay in the same position through out the entire site.
If your site is planned correctly it will greatly increase the users ability to navigate simply and access the information that he seeks.
While original design and corporate branding are an important component of any web site, an easy user interface, legibility and design compatibility with your business or product should be your first priority. The design of your site should always follow set design standard guidelines.
Before designing your site visit your competitors sites and list in detail what you like and dislike about each of them. See if there is a common denominator between the sites. If there is a consistency of color choices or features that each of your competitors offer.
Text should be written in a web friendly font, usually either Arial or Veranda. Where applicable, the user should be able to change the size of the text using the browser text options. This is done when using Html styles for design rather than CSS. This will not always be an option depending on the design of the site.
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