If you are ready to make your first website, make sure you pay close attention to every minute detail to ensure the optimization of its functional purpose. Here are seven important rules of thumb to observe to ensure your site serves its purpose well.
1) Do not use a Splash Welcome Page
The splash welcome page is the first page seen when visitors come to your website. It usually has a very beautiful picture and text, such as "welcome" or "Click here" when in fact it is just a beautiful ornament that serves no real purpose. Don't allow users to have a reason to click the back button! Give them value instead. The exception to this is a Squeeze Page which is fine if the intent is to capture your visitor's first name and email address.
2) Don't overdo the usage of banners
Even the least trained net users ignore banners. Advertising space on your site is a valuable asset. Instead, provide more valuable content and subtly work affiliate links into your content. Let your visitors feel that they want to buy, rather than that they are being pushed to buy.
3) Have a simple and clear navigation
You must provide a menu navigation that is very simple and straightforward, so that even a young child knows how to use it. Stay away from the complicated flash based menus or multi-level drop-down menus. If a visitor does not know how to navigate, he or she will leave your site.
4) Have a clear indication of where the user is
When visitors are engrossed in browsing your site, you will need to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at all times. Then, they'll easily be able to move around without getting lost. Do not confuse your visitors because confusion means "adios amigos!"
5) Avoid using audio on the site
If a visitor will stay long on your site, reading your content, you want to make sure you are not playing some annoying audio loop again and again. If you insist on adding audio, make sure you have some control for it - volume muting, stop or pause controls would work properly.
6) Video is all the rage, but make sure they can control it
It is ok and probably encouraged nowadays to have video on your site, as Google loves video content. But as with the audio rule, make sure it has controls so that your visitors have the ability to pause or stop the video or control the volume. You don't want them getting annoyed at something they can't control.
7) Pay a professional or take the time to learn web design
In the end, you want a functional site that your visitors will love going to. Whether you design your site with HTML, Kompozer, Dreamweaver, WordPress, Joomla or Drupal, you're either going to take the time to learn these properly or pay a professional to make sure your design is up to par. I have personally designed sites using HTML from scratch, WordPress and Joomla, and I don't pay anyone to do my designs for me. In fact, others have paid me to design their sites, but I had to study for many hours the intricate details, and I still don't consider myself a professional, but my sites are functional. I am seriously considering hiring a web designer to look over my sites and improve them as my time to study is becoming very limited nowadays.
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