Below are some fundamental principles to keep in mind when developing a new website:
1. Think of the customer first. This is the first and most important rule. The reason you have a website is to attract new customers and convince them to buy your product or service. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and design the site and its content around that perspective. Talk more about "you" and less about "me".
2. Bigger is not always better. Don't drown your website's visitors in unecessary content. Keep it straight-forward. They're in a hurry and want information as soon as possible.
3. Avoid "bells and whistles". The flashing "new" icon, the "spinning" title, or the Flash intro that doesn't add anything to the user's experience other than leave their head spinning and their eyes searching for what they came to find in the first place.
4. No visitor counters. Unless you are McDonald's and counting your billionth visit, odds are that a visitor counter will only serve to date your page and make visitors wonder why there aren't more people visiting your site. This isn't to say that you shouldn't track visitors privately. webwithease offers a weekly e-mail report on a variety of tracking points for your website's visitors.
5. Keep the images meaningful. Don't add graphics and images just because they're pretty. The more graphics, the slower the download time for the visitor. Use graphics and photos because they're important information. For example, a house painting company might post before and after photos. An art supply store might post images of its various products.
6. Make contact information clear. Don't make your customer search through your page for contact information. If they have the impulse to call, make it easy for them to find the number.
webwithease . tel: 301.432.5651 . fax: 866.808.9842 . info@webwithease.com
