The 8 'Must Do' rules for effective website design

To succeed at your online business (whether you are selling your own product/service or are selling for other merchants as an affiliate), you need a Web design must be just for that - a simple, focused site. One that is easy to build, maintenance-free, low cost, credible, and a powerful traffic-builder and customer-converter.

Having the right tool and the right product alone doesn’t insure the success of your website. There are many factors to be considered in effective website design. Unfortunately, most of these are overlooked by offline business owners using the internet to promote their business.


Web Design Rule #1 - Build It for Speed
It's a fact of modern life - people are in a hurry. This means that you have between 10 and 30 seconds to capture your potential customer's attention. To minimize your load time, keep graphics small. Compress them where possible. Use flashy technology (JavaScript, Flash, Streaming Audio/Video, animation) sparingly and only if it is important to your presentation.

Web Design Rule #2 - Target your Market
Know who your market is and make certain that your site caters to their needs. It is critical that your site reflect the values of your potential customers. Is your market mostly business professionals? If so, the site must be clean and professional. Is your product aimed mostly a teenagers and young adults? Then your site could be more informal and relaxed. The key here is to know your market and build the site to their preferences.

Web Design Rule #3 - Focus the Site
Make certain your web site is focused on the goal, selling your product or service. A site offering many unrelated products is not necessarily unfocused, but this is often the case. If your business does offer many products, dedicate a unique page for each instead of trying to sell them all from one page.

Web Design Rule #4 - Credibility Is Crucial
The most professionally designed site won't sell if your customers don't believe in you. A clear privacy statement is one way to build your credibility. Provide a prominent link to your privacy statement from every page on the site as well as from any location that you are asking your visitors for personal information. Provide legitimate contact information on line.

Web Design Rule #5 - Navigation should be simple
Make site navigation easy and intuitive. Simple and smooth navigation adds to the convenience of the visitors. Add powerful search and catalog features. Many times a lot of visitors do not have the patience to navigate through the whole website to find what they are looking for.

Web Design Rule #6 - Consistency is the key
Make sure the site is consistent in look, feel and design. Nothing is more jarring and disturbing to a customer than feeling as if they have just gone to another site. Keep colors and themes constant throughout the site.

Web Design Rule #7 - Make your site interactive
Make your website interactive. Add feedback forms as well as email forms that allow your prospective customers to ask you any questions they might have pertaining to a product.
Personalization of your website is another key element that can lead to customer delight and can increase your sales. Personalization technology provides you the analytic tools to facilitate cross-selling and up-selling when the customer is buying online. It would give you an idea of what products to cross-sell and up-sell. For example, when a person buys a CD player, a disc cleaner can also be offered.

Web Design Rule #8 - Content is King
Good content sells a product. Ask yourself the following questions. Does your copy convey the message you wish to get across to your visitors? Is it compelling? Does it lead your visitor through the sales process? Have others review, critique and edit your copy to insure it is delivering the intended message. Always double check your spelling and grammar.


These eight, simple rules will go a long way toward an effective website design, and most importantly, turning visitors into customers.

Web Design’s Infallible Rules of Thumb

The essence of creating a website is not just launching it. Every detail on its own, must count!

The fact is – details mater a lot. Hence, every site must be a product of careful planning, conceptualization and concentration to details.

Effective website is all about stepping into the shoes of the visitors. Every designer must have the same mindset as the visitors so as to be intimately related to them. To know what to expect and to feel about a certain site is an advantage that can only be reckoned if you place yourself in the place of another person. To know the wants and the needs is also another added factor. This will enable designers to deliver to the visitors what they expect and need.

Understanding specific needs, benefits and concerns gives us the idea of what we should create - from page layout to graphic design and overall site organization. Anticipate the queries that might come out upon seeing the page. Be sure that these queries and objections are answered and understood so as to draw out loyalty and trust.

In order to be sure of what you are designing here are the rules of thumb in designing:

1. Provide simple, clear and straightforward directions. Do not forget to emphasize the ‘call to action’. This is the most important aspect of web designing thus, make sure it is not overshadowed by other aspects.

2. Aside from emphasizing the ‘call to action’, also emphasize the functionalism of the site. Make the benefits more understandable and apparent. These are your weapons to achieve persuasion. As we all know persuasion is the most important factor that affects the purchasing decision of visitors. This should not fail so as not to fall short in the site’s objective.

3. Objections must also be answered. If the visitors have hesitations, this may hinder his decision to buy or subscribe. Hence, the site must remove the clouds of doubt in order to direct the visitor to buying or subscribing.

4. The goal is to draw a path that leads to the site’s goal. Bear in mind the link between the ‘call to action’ and the end goal they must result to the site’s satisfaction. The design must motivate a person to do the next big thing and that is to do the ‘call of action’.

Finally, after doing the web site, evaluate whether each element are present and that principles are practiced. That way, you are secured that you are producing an excellent site!

5 Basic Rules of Web Design

5 Basic Rules of Web Design the most important rule in web design is that your web site should be easy to read. What does this mean? You should choose your text and background colours very carefully. You don't want to use backgrounds that obscure your text or use colours that are hard to read. Dark-coloured text on a light-coloured background is easier to read than light-coloured text on a dark background.

You also don't want to set your text size too small (hard to read) or too large (it will appear to shout at your visitors). All capitalised letters give the appearance of shouting at your visitors.

Keep the alignment of your main text to the left, not cantered. Centre-aligned text is best used in headlines. You want your visitors to be comfortable with what they are reading, and most text is left aligned.

Your web site should be easy to navigate

All of your hyperlinks should be clear to your visitors. Graphic images, such as buttons or tabs, should be clearly labelled and easy to read. Your web graphic designer should select the colours, backgrounds, textures, and special effects on your web graphics very carefully. It is more important that your navigational buttons and tabs be easy to read and understand than to have "flashy" effects. Link colours in your text should be familiar to your visitor (blue text usually indicates an unvisited link and purple or maroon text usually indicates a visited link), if possible. If you elect not to use the default colours, your text links should be emphasized in some other way (boldfaced, a larger font size, set between small vertical lines, or a combination of these). Text links should be unique - they should not look the same as any other text in your web pages. You do not want people clicking on your headings because they think the headings are links.

Your visitors should be able to find what they are looking for in your site within three clicks. If not, they are very likely to click off your site as quickly as they clicked on.

Your web site should be easy to find

How are your visitors finding you online? The myth, "If I build a web site, they will come," is still a commonly held belief among companies and organisations new to the Internet. People will not come to your web site unless you promote your site both online and offline.

Web sites are promoted online via search engines, directories, award sites, banner advertising, electronic magazines (e-zines) and links from other web sites. If you are not familiar with any of these online terms, then it is best that you have your site promoted by an online marketing professional.

Web sites are promoted offline via the conventional advertising methods: print ads, radio, television, brochures, word-of-mouth, etc. Once you have created a web site, all of your company's printed materials including business cards, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, etc. should have your URL printed on them.

Not only should your web site be easy to find, but your contact information should be easy to find. People like to know that there is a person at the other end of a web site who can help them in the event that:

• 1. They need answers to questions which are not readily available on your web site;
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• 2. Some element on your site is not working and end users need to be able to tell you about it, and
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• 3. Directory editors need you to modify parts of your site to be sure that your site is placed in the most relevant category.

By giving all relevant contact information (physical address, telephone numbers, fax numbers, and email address), you are also creating a sense of security for your end users. They can contact you in the way that makes them feel the most comfortable.

Your web page layout and design should be consistent throughout the site

Just as in any document formatted on a word processor or as in any brochure, newsletter, or newspaper formatted in a desktop publishing program, all graphic images and elements, typefaces, headings, and footers should remain consistent throughout your web site. Consistency and coherence in any document, whether it is a report or a set of web pages, project a professional image.

For example, if you use a drop shadow as a special effect in your bullet points, you should use drop shadows in all of your bullets. Link-colours should be consistent throughout your web pages. Typefaces and background colours, too, should remain the same throughout your site.

Colour-coded web pages, in particular, need this consistency. Typefaces, alignment in the main text and the headings, background effects, and the special effects on graphics should remain the same. Only the colours should change.

Your web site should be quick to download

Studies have indicated that visitors will quickly lose interest in your web site if the majority of a page does not download within 15 seconds. (Artists' pages should have a warning at the top of their pages.) Even web sites that are marketed to high-end users need to consider download times. Sometimes, getting to web sites such as Microsoft or Sun Microsystems is so difficult and time consuming that visitors will often try to access the sites during non-working hours from their homes. If your business does not have good brand name recognition, it is best to keep your download time as short as possible.

A good application of this rule is adding animation to your site. Sure, animation looks "cool" and does initially catch your eye, but animation graphics tend to be large files. Test the download time of your pages first. If the download time of your page is relatively short and the addition of animation does not unreasonably increase the download time of your page, then and ONLY then should animation be a consideration.

Finally, before you consider the personal preferences of your web page design, you should consider all of the above rules FIRST and adapt your personal preferences accordingly. The attitude "I don't like how it looks" should always be secondary to your web site's function. Which is more important: creative expression/corporate image or running a successful business?

Critical Web Design Rules

Visitors tо уоur website ѕhоuld bе аblе tо find whаt thеу аrе lооkіng fоr wіthіn аbоut thrее clicks. Search engines ѕhоuld bе аblе tо navigate easily thrоugh уоur site. Making а site easy tо read wіth consistent page design, аnd easy tо navigate wіll mаkе іt easy tо find information. Whеn people саn find information, thеу аrе mоrе lіkеlу tо refer уоur site оr link tо it, whісh іѕ еxасtlу whаt уоu wаnt tо encourage. Yоu wіll bе оn thе wау tо building а readable аnd hореfullу successful website thаt іѕ loved bу search engines іf уоu follow thеѕе principals.


Content іѕ King! If уоu wаnt а website tо generate back-links аnd hаvе quality content thе search engines love, bе ѕurе tо mаkе іt readable bу bоth people аnd search engines. Search engines аrе working tо give people quality results. Thus, thеу аrе lооkіng fоr sites wіth quality content. Sо bу building site content fоr people, nоt оnlу аrе уоu gеttіng bасk tо basics (information dissemination tо people vіа thе Internet), уоu аrе creating а site search engines wіll love. So, build sites fоr people аnd thе search engines wіll come.




Whеn creating а nеw website оr redesigning аn existing site, thеrе аrе fоur critical rules whісh ѕhоuld bе fоllоwеd tо mаkе thе site effective, functional, loved bу search engines - аnd successful.




Easy to Read




Whеn building а website, thе fіrѕt thіng уоu nееd tо bе ѕurе оf іѕ thаt уоur website іѕ easy tо read. Whеn уоu write content, remember thаt mоѕt web site visitors don’t read еvеrу word оf а page - іn fact, thеу оnlу scan pages tо find whаt thеу want.




Break up Your Content


Break uр уоur pages аnd uѕе headers bеtwееn major ideas ѕо people scanning уоur site саn find whаt thеу wаnt quickly. Uѕе meaningful headers bеtwееn еасh paragraph оr major idea thіѕ helps wіth SEO. Headers ѕhоuld bе created wіth thе H1 thrоugh H4 tags fоr SEO. Alwауѕ uѕе good writing structure. Additionally, avoid long paragraphs thаt run on. Yоu ѕhоuld break uр аnу long paragraphs.




Color and Fonts


To help readability, use high contrast colors between font and background. Black text against a white background may seem stark, but it is very readable. To make a website easy on the eyes, try an off-white background and a dark gray (almost black) text color.




Things to avoid with content color:

Avoid vibrant background colors like purple or yellow. Such back colors make text difficult to read.

Avoid using an image behind your text.

Avoid using bright text colors on bright backgrounds.

Standard Compliant Browser for Development


Whеn developing аnd testing уоur site, uѕе а Standards compliant browser lіkе FireFox. If уоu develop уоur site tо bе standards compliant, іt wіll work іn mоѕt browsers, including MS Internet Explorer (IE). It іѕ recommended thаt уоu test уоur site uѕіng thе latest аnd lаѕt browser versions оf IE (IE6 аnd IE7). Tо run multiple versions оf IE оn thе ѕаmе machine, TredoSoft.com hаѕ а free installer thаt wіll install multiple versions оf IE. It works great!




Keywords in Content


Of course, whеn writing content, nоt оnlу ѕhоuld іt bе formatted tо bе readable, but іt muѕt аlѕо bе consumable bу nоt оnlу people, but bу search engines. Onе wау tо mаkе thе subject оf thе content knоwn tо search engines іѕ tо uѕе thе keywords thаt people uѕе tо search fоr уоur site іn уоur content. Bе ѕurе tо uѕе keywords іn уоur header tags, уоur fіrѕt paragraph аnd thrоughоut уоur text. Thе keyword density ѕhоuld bе bеtwееn 4% аnd 7% - but аnу mоrе thаn thаt соuld 1) bе hard tо read аnd ѕtіll mаkе sense аnd 2) bе considered spam bу search engines аnd banned. Keywords ѕhоuld аlѕо bе uѕеd іn уоur TITLE tags аnd уоur Meta description.