Navigation schemes in web site design

As web site designers, we always try to create a web site navigation scheme that (a) is consistent throughout the entire web site and (b) allows the site's visitors to find what they are searching for quickly and easily. A consistent site navigation scheme shows your potential customers that you are thinking about their ease of finding your products or services on your web site.

The following list shows some basic web site navigation schemes:

• Text links
• Graphic images - navigation buttons
• Graphic images - image maps
• Drop-down Menus - Javascript, CGI, etc.
• Dynamically generated URLs
  

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How to Choose Professional Web Site Templates

After you have decided to buy a web site template, now you are scrambled with all the web sites offering these web site templates. Some are free, some are packaged into tens or maybe hundreds but all of them share the various sales pitches thatis marketing these professional web site templates and pushing you to buy. All this is offered to you without the hints on how to choose from these templates the template that will create your niche web site that you have always dreamed of.

The beautiful designs of web site templates does not necessary make them professional web site templates. At this point of your web design search, you should by now know that the looks of the web site is a major thing but it is not everything. The looks of the web site will become a minor concern when it comes to the other factors that are going to affect your web site existence, such as functionality, readability, content and search engine optimization.

When shopping for professional web site templates, you should look to see if the web site templates are really professional! In other words, you should look to see if the web site template takes into consideration all other factors of a professional web site design.

The first major thing to look for is the theme of the template. Most of the web site templates that are sold on the internet are of a general theme. These kinds of templates usually look very attractive to you but you would want to know if it is attractive to your targeted clients. professional web site templates do not only look beautiful but also have a theme!

Do not over look a web site template theme, the theme of this template is going to present your web site theme. The theme should match your business or ideas that are going to be presented in your web site. If you are still confused, dedicate a couple of hours to research color representations, for example, red says stop and green says go. What does the web site template that you have chosen say? Does that match or approach your web sites theme?

Colors are good, but too many colors are annoying. professional web site templates will have fewer colors and a professional use of colors. Colors can distinct separate areas in your web site and can emphasis the difference and level of importance of your web sites content. A professional web site template designer knows this fact and uses it wisely. If colors are only used for decoration, then the template in hand is not a professional web site template.

Colors are not only found in text and bars, colors are found also in pictures, that also differentiates professional web site templates from just web site templates. The colors of the images inside your web site should also reflect the theme of your web site and they should also flow with the colors of it. Not only that, pictures in professional web site templates are enhanced for users and search engines. Web surfers will run away from your web site if it takes forever to load not to mention that your web site has lesser chances to appear in search engine results if the whole web site is made of images.

professional web site templates do not necessary need to be search engine optimized simply because this is not the web designers’ job to optimize a web site for search engines, but professional web site templates surly must take search engine optimization into consideration; especially if the web sites theme is informative or intended for content. To make this point clearer, when it comes to search engine optimization, it makes a big difference whether you have chosen your template to have buttons as links or images to act like buttons. Search engines prefer words over pictures, so again it comes to your theme and your priorities.

Readability, or in other words layout of a web site template, is also a major factor when distinguishing professional web site templates. When choosing your web site template, you would want to avoid getting glasses to read text; you also do not want to get dizzy trying to find an important section that does not stand out in the layout of the web site. Professional web site templates takes the layout of a web site very seriously and usually offers you few pages to put your content without damaging the flow of the design. You will usually find in addition to the main page, a content page and maybe some other pages depending on the theme.

Also, a web site template does not have to be so complicated to be professional. Choose usability over complexity. Your client should be able to identify the theme of your web site theme at the first glance and then easily find what he is looking for at the second. He must not feel at any point that he is lost, otherwise bye bye! See if the web site template you are buying takes this method into consideration seriously. If you can’t see what you want from the template, your client most likely will not.

Choose a web site template with familiar internet navigation system. That is, from your browsing experience on the net, where do you see the buttons? Most likely buttons are at top, left or right. As mentioned complicated templates are not necessary professional.

Make sure that your template will serve its purpose especially when buying a template for a system. For example: if you are buying a template for a shopping cart, you would want to make sure that all instructions of installation are available and error free. Functionality becomes a frustrating issue if you did not plan for it right. For this purpose, try to look for samples of the web site templates you are buying, take the time to install the sample and see how it works. If errors shows up, see how easy it is to deal with them, then go for the purchase phase.

One more thing that should be mentioned is that some work will be required from your side after purchasing a web site template. You will need to replace texts, images and information on the template to match your web site theme. professional web site templates will come with all sources and software requirements to make the necessary modifications to the template. After all, you do not want to end up with a template that you don’t know how to use. Also, you might not be able to find a template for the exact theme of your web site, but something close. You should look at the things that you are going to replace in the template and how that affect the design of the template. For instance, if you are going to replace major images in the template, check to see if your images can fit into the color scheme of the template.

Do not over look a web site template and since this is a one time investment, I think it is okay to spend few extra dollars to buy professional web site templates instead of buying cheap web site templates, then ending up with a cheap web site and hence paying multiples of the price on the long run.

Source : http://www.site-reference.com/

Tips for designing business Web sites

Your Web site should be at the forefront of your plans.

It should be included on all your media, including advertisements, business cards, direct mail campaigns and promotional items.

Kathie Jankauskas from KJanStudio, a graphic and Web design firm in Middletown, also recommends that you work with the search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN to get your Web page to the top of search results.

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20 Tips for Creating a Customer-Friendly Web Site

What annoys an Internet user the most? A quick unscientific survey of a local Internet café suggests the top three turn-offs are:

• Sites that are very slow to download;
• Ones that are confusing to use;
• Sites that do not contain the promised information;

The single most common reaction to sites like these is that the visitor very quickly moves on to another web site. Clearly, if you get things wrong there is usually no second chance.

How can you avoid this happening to your business? Well, here are twenty tips to help you when designing or redesigning your company’s web site.

Start with a clear understanding of the purpose of your site.

Is the aim of your site to sell, entertain, or inform? The design of your site should be consistent with its purpose. The requirements for a site selling software online will be very different from say the web site of a local community newspaper.

Plan the site with the customer in mind.

Imagine how your customers (existing and prospects) will use your site. Consider their reasons for visiting and their needs. Something that looks logical to you may not appear so to a first-time visitor.

Design for cross-browser compatibility.

Although Internet Explorer dominates, do not overlook those people who use alternatives such as Mozilla, Opera and Netscape. Make sure your site can be viewed in other browsers; that way you will not unintentionally reduce the number of visitors to your site.

Choose simplicity over complexity.

Unless you are a design company showcasing its skills, keep things simple. Visitors (especially frequent ones) may not be impressed by your complex animated graphics especially if they serve no apparent useful purpose. Make it simple for visitors to get to the content – that is what most of them are coming to your site for anyway.

Make the navigation intuitive and easy to use.

This is probably one of the two most important aspects of designing a web site, the other being content. Make your site’s navigation logical and clear. Ensure the most important and most often-accessed information is easy to find. Link names should be concise and self-explanatory. Test navigational links to make sure they work and keep them up-to-date.

Your site should be as visually appealing as possible.

Visual appeal is subjective but the design of your site will undoubtedly influence customers’ perceptions of your business as a whole. An uncluttered layout, careful choice of font size and colors and appropriate use of graphics and images should go a long way to ensuring your site creates a good impression of your business.

Apply a consistent design or ’look and feel’ to your site.

Keep design consistent across your site unless you want your visitors to ask themselves whether they have wandered into another company’s site by accident.

Integrate your web site design with your offline branding.

For many, the Internet is still an alien environment so reassure your customers by applying the same branding online as you do offline. After all, if you have spent a lot of money building your brand why spend more appearing to build an entirely different online brand (unless, of course, this is your intention).

Keep page size manageable to ensure speedy downloads.

Online visitors’ patience is measured in milliseconds and not everyone has hi-speed or broadband Internet connections. So, keep page sizes within reasonable limits to ensure that they download quickly. Optimize graphic size and avoid putting an image on a page unless it adds something for the visitor.

Ensure your site’s content reflects its purpose.

If yours is a sales site for example, ensure that your content concentrates on selling. Stay focused and avoid the temptation to upload content that is not relevant to your web site’s purpose.

Enable quick and easy location of information.

Quite simply, most customers will quickly leave your site if they cannot locate the information they are seeking. Internet users increasingly require information to be instantly available and there is no shortage of other sites eager to take business from you. Think what information customers are likely to want and do not hide it away.

Make sure content is relevant, accurate and up-to-date.

Provide accurate and relevant content and keep it up-to-date. Failure to do this will make your company look inefficient and reflects badly on your customer service levels. Search engines also appreciate content that is updated regularly.

Encourage interaction.

Get visitors to interact with your site and spend more time on it. Make a visit an interesting experience for them by including useful online tools, etc. Just make sure they are relevant to your site.

Personalize your site.

Depending on the technology you have available to you, it may be possible to greet visitors to your site by name and serve up content tailored specifically to their needs. If you can do it then do so.

Invite dialogue.

Give your customers the opportunity to contact you via email, online forms, a call-back/call-me facility, web chat, etc. Ask for their feedback via online surveys and feedback forms. Invite them to subscribe to a customer newsletter.

Acknowledge customer contact.

It is common courtesy to say ‘thank you’. Very little effort is required to set up an email auto-responder. When requiring customers to complete and submit a form, make sure there is a ‘thank you’ page or pop-up. It reassures the customer that you have received their communication and does not leave them wondering whether or not your site is working properly.

Make it a ‘seamless’ experience.

Aim to give customers the same level of service online as you give them offline. Your goal should be to facilitate the customer’s interaction with your company and allow them to choose how to do business with you. You know that customers are your most valuable asset and that retaining them is vitally important.

Give your customers support.

Reassure visitors to your site by providing elements such as help pages, FAQ’s, a site map, terms of use and a privacy policy. They will appreciate it.

Inspire confidence.

Ensure that your site works properly and its content is up-to-date. Check error messages make sense and forms and data entry fields are logical. Get someone to proofread your site and spot any grammatical and spelling mistakes. The quality of your site tells customers a lot about the quality of service they can expect from you.

Get to know your customers.

Learn as much as you can about your customers and the way they use your site (and, if you can, find out how they use your competitors’ sites). Then use this learning to improve your site and increase your return on investment.

The number of web sites is growing every day and now just about anyone can create one. If you want your site to stand out from the rest, plan it carefully and design it with your customers in mind. Far too many web site owners just do not bother.

About The Author

Christopher Smith is owner of YourSiteAssessed.com (http://www.yoursiteassessed.com/) and President of eNewsWriters, Inc. – a company which writes customer newsletters for businesses (http://www.enewswriters.com).

5 Basic Rules of web page design and layout

Your web site should be easy to read

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 colors very carefully. You don't want to use backgrounds that obscure your text or use colors that are hard to read. Dark-colored text on a light-colored background is easier to read than light-colored text on a dark-colored 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 capitalized letters give the appearance of shouting at your visitors.

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

our 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 labeled and easy to read. Your web graphic designer should select the colors, 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 colors 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 colors, 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 organizations 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:

they need answers to questions which are not readily available on your web site;

some element on your site is not working and end users need to be able to tell you about it, and

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 be 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-colors should be consistent throughout your web pages. Typefaces and background colors, too, should remain the same throughout your site.

Color-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 colors 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 site 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?

Source: http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/

Tips on how to build a better web experience

The wonderful world of the Web has driven a lot of business to printing outfit My1Stop LLC, from Fort Scott, Kansas. Approximately 50% of the company's US $20 million in annual revenue is derived from Web traffic, according to Michael Joseph, their vice president of e- commerce.

Given those numbers, My1Stop's web site must be top-notch - period. And although it won a 2006 Web Marketing Association award for outstanding achievement in Web site development, the company and its workers know that's not what drives business.

"The company that takes the best care of the customer is going to win, and e-commerce is not an exception to this rule," says senior programmer Mike Wulz.

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5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Website's Legibility

Websites that make their customers work to read them are not the best way to get business. Miniscule fonts, text in colors that make it hard to see against the background color, and lines that are piled on top of each other are problems, but they're easy to correct. Let's jump right in and look at five easy fixes:

1. Format your text using CSS.
   Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are the way to go - use one style sheet and control how text looks on your entire site. Make a change to the style sheet and your whole site is updated. It makes life a lot simpler.
   
   
2. Make the font size big enough to read.
   Consider your target audience. Even if they are a group of teenage girls looking for new shoes, it's never a good idea to use tiny type. It doesn't have to be enormous, but up to a point, larger type is better. 12-pt Verdana is better than 8-pt Verdana.
   
   
3. Make the text contrast with its background.
   The more contrast, the better. Black-on-white or white-on-black are examples of the highest contrast you can get. Use colors if you like, but if you squint at the page and your text basically vanishes, there's not enough contrast.
   
   
4. Give the lines room to breathe.
   Don't stack lines on top of each other. Use the line-spacing directive in CSS and give it some space; I'll often set line-spacing to 140% of the height of a typical line.
   
   
5. Break text up into chunks.
   No matter how good a writer you are, people don't want to read endless pages of text. Break it up by using headlines that reflect the subject of the paragraph(s) to follow so people can scan down to the parts that really interest them, or use bulleted lists to change the pace of the writing and slow down the scanning.
   
   And finally (not one of the 5 Easy Ways to Improve Legibility but still quite important) check your spelling. Nothing irritates me more on a web page than spelling errors - it simply makes you look like you don't care enough to get it right. Use that ubiquitous spellcheck tool.
   
   Making your website's content more legible is easy. It doesn't take a lot of time, mainly common sense. The payoff will be text that's more readable, customers that stick around long enough to get your message, and improved credibility with your visitors.

Source: http://www.pageresource.com/zine/cc_5easyways.htm