Best Web Design Practices For Your Business - Layout and Design

Most owners of small businesses don’t necessarily understand the need for a Web site. Even if your company does not engage in any sort of e-commerce, a presence on the internet is almost crucial in today’s world. Not having a web site is equivalent to not having a business card. A well designed and marketed Web site can provide a business with almost unparalleled exposure at the fraction of the price other advertising means can provide.

There are several factors, however, that separate a bad Web site from a good one. If you are new to the internet, or perhaps looking at expanding or redesigning your current site, here are some important things to keep in mind.

• Consistency – Consistency is perhaps the most fundamental rule in Web design. When a user lands on your site, their expectations of how the rest of the site looks is based on the first page. If elements of your site constantly change with each page, your user will become easily disoriented.
• Simple Navigation – When you are planning the structure of your Web site, keep in mind that users will want to access information as quickly and painlessly as possible. The hierarchy of your navigation should be simple and intuitive. It is also important to keep standards in mind. For example, if you go to a Web site looking for contact information, you would immediately scan the navigation for a “Contact Us” or “About Us” link.
• Search Features – Many times, a Web site will have too much information to warrant the user clicking from link to link just to find. If your Web site falls into this category, you might want to consider installing a search feature.
• Minimal Movement – More and more each day, Web sites are implementing animated features. While these may look cool and add a bit of pizzazz to an otherwise bland design, it is far too easy to overdo. Many businesses like to have a quick introduction on their main page to draw the user in. This is sometimes called an “elevator pitch”, and lasts between 15-30 seconds. If this is something you feel the need to do, just remember that the more movement or blinking text on a page, the more your user will quickly become distracted. If you have an animation, have it play through once and then stop. Also try and limit it to one per page at the most.
• Target Audience – A very important factor in designing a site is to remember who your target audience is. If you have a company that sells baby products, you probably won’t want to have a dark color scheme with a science fiction type theme.

While not a comprehensive list, these are some of the most important things to keep in mine when planning your Web site. Perhaps the best rule to adhere to is Keep It Simple. Assume that the people visiting your site have little to no experience on the internet. It doesn’t take long for a user to get discouraged and click that X in the upper right hand corner of the screen.