A Better Website

We can make a list of Do's and Don'ts of Website Designing that would take up an entire website. But, for the moment we'll review a few things that are relatively elementary, but consistently overlooked.   This list is not in any specific order.

        Make sure of your objective. If, you, don't know what, you, want from your
                  website, how do you expect someone else to know what they are looking at.

        Make it easy for the average, non-technical, person to understand and navigate.

        Make your pages easy on yours eyes. That includes:
                The color and contrast of the pages.
                Create your pages so that there is an orderly flow from section to section.
                Don't have your eyes jumping all over the page trying to figure out what the
                page is all about, or where to go next.

        Make your entry or home page "visible" and "worthwhile".
                If you want art and design have a picture of your office building, or store
                front, then flash to a picture of you and your dog sitting at your desk, then
                have a great big banner of your logo flashing and jumping all over the place.
                Finally, place a great big button that says "ENTER". What you have is a
                great looking piece of art ""THAT DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR
                YOU "".

                 First and foremost, in my humble opinion, your website will not be
                 seen or found by the search engines, because, you technically have no
                 "visibility" to the search engines. You haven't any content for them to grasp
                 onto.

                 Second, is this all "worthwhile"? Has it made your website more functional?
                 Is it bringing in any more sales? The simple answer is "NO".
                 If you want all of that, fine, go for it, but make it an addition to the page where
                 the major portion of the page is content that helps you sell. Put these on the
                 side or corner of the page as a secondary item, not as an entire page with
                 very little or nothing else.

        Make sure your site uploads quickly. People will not wait if it takes too long.

        Make sure your website makes you and your company look professional and
                 credible. Not like a "Cheap John's Bargain Basement", unless of course
                 you are a "Cheap John's Bargain Basement". (No offense "Cheap John")

        Make sure you can easily be contacted in more than just one way.

        Make sure that your website in not based entirely on graphics.

        Make sure to eliminate a lot of unnecessary junk (design items, graphics, sound,
                 etc. that doesn't do anything for you).

Credibility is what you must have for someone to want to do business with you. It's that simple. If you can't show your potential client that you are someone they can have confidence dealing with, you're just not going to make the sale.

According to the dictionary credibility is defined as, "the quality or power to elicit belief". You can also use, believability, genuineness, legitimacy, etc.

The following is a short article, by Matt Bailey of Sitelogic, that does a very good job of putting "Website Credibility" into perspective. It also corroborates our entire premise as to what a good website should do.

The Classical Model of Persuasion
SiteLogic consulting is based on the classical model of persuasion. Sales and Marketing techniques that were established thousands of years ago are still applicable to today's market - even in the electronic marketplace. One of the first "sales" manuals written about persuasion was written over 2,000 years ago by Aristotle, who explained the core of persuasion.

The Three Elements of Persuasion
Unless three elements are used by the speaker or presenter, their persuasive capabilities will suffer. Those three elements are:

"Credibility" "Logic" "Emotion"

Credibility
The design and layout of the site, the arrangements of the text, and content create the credibility of the site. By putting forth a professional image, the user will feel more comfortable in giving over personal information. Even branded sites suffer from credibility problems with users when the site does not reflect the professional image that a user may expect.

Logic
The navigation, images, and content have to be in a logical order and presentation. Users will follow page paths as long as it makes sense to them, and they feel as though they are accomplishing something on their way to gaining the information they need. By creating a logical structure, site visitors will feel confident that they are able to find the information they seek. Common sense pathways and navigation make users comfortable and keep them on the site longer, which enables you to communicate more information to them.

Emotion
Ultimately, decisions are based on emotion. By creating content that answers the users' needs, anticipates their objections, and draws them into a conversation with your website. Emotion is the core of purchasing, and your website content must draw visitors into your story and your company. By knowing your customers and writing to their needs, you create the ideal climate for conversion.

The Result: Customer Appeal
Building a website that encompasses these three elements creates the most ideal opportunity to persuade and convert visitors to customers. The natural growth from this step is to use the site to grow customers into happy customers and then into brand evangelists, that love your company and what you do for them. The first step, however, is to create the ideal persuasive atmosphere by evaluating all of the elements of the site necessary to this end.
Each of these appeals to the visitor enable them to see a site that is trustworthy and sound, creating a desire to know more. Without all three elements working in concert with each other, a visitor will not stay. SiteLogic works with you and your company to create a comprehensive website marketing plan, based on these three elements.