Some thoughts on Web Design
Why should businesses think carefully before investing in a web site?
No one can deny that the Internet has now become a very established and valuable business medium and simply having a web site is no longer enough. Indeed having a poorly designed or outdated website is worse than having no website at all. Nowadays a web site must form part of the overall strategy of a business and should fulfil business objectives such as providing information to visitors, acting as a sales platform etc. The web site may be the first view that the outside world sees of a business and if designed and promoted properly will potentially attract tens of thousands, or even millions of visitors.
A business would naturally take great care in producing a printed brochure that may go to a few thousand customers, should not more effort be applied to a web site that may potentially be viewed by millions? Many businesses still fail to see the importance that should be placed on the development of their web site.
Web site development covers more than just the design of the site. It encompasses the structure, navigation, content and usability. All of these aspects are important in gaining visitor attention and loyalty. Put simply, the most important requirement for any site is to keep the visitor interested long enough to fulfil the business objectives of having the site in the first place, such as providing or collecting information, generating business or product interest or making a sale. This is why we, at Atomic Web Solutions profess to be a Web Development Company, rather than a Web Design Company.
Your business may offer the best products or services in the world, but you won’t sell many if your visitors get bored with your site and move on to the site of a competitor. In the same vein, if a visitor has to navigate through numerous pages to get to the information they need, get lost trying to obtain it, then spend hours trying to download it, you’ve probably lost their interest and their custom too!
A well-developed site should at least fulfil the following:
- Catch the visitors eye and keep their attention long enough to meet your objective(s)
- Ensure that the site provides all of the information required
- Provide ‘added value’ such as up to date news and information, offers etc that may encourage visitors to keep on returning to the site
- Be easy to navigate so that resources are easily accessible
Whilst the look of the site will depend upon its purpose, intended audience and content, we at Atomic Web Solutions suggest three points to remember:
- The site must be intuitive to the visitor and usable by the intended audience. There may be a legal obligation (under the Disability Discrimination Act) to ensure that the site is usable by all those who may need to use it. Much of this is common sense and good practice, but often overlooked by the most experienced of developers
- Site navigation should be simple – understand the requirement and the target audience and develop a navigation system to suit
- Flash and other embedded content should only be used where needed and to add value or functionality, not merely for the sake of it.
So, to answer the question at the top of this article – Why should businesses think carefully before investing in a web site? - The key point to remember is that thorough planning and good advice (or lack or it) can make or break a site, it can make the difference between success and failure. Remember also that a seemingly cheap ‘template site’ will certainly not meet your business objectives, unless they are minimal. Having a site that is the same as countless others will not give a business the edge that will set them apart and encourage visitors to return time and time again. A business that has chosen to go for the template offering will probably find that they re-invest in a bespoke solution in the near future - A waste of valuable time and capital investment and possibly a tarnished image too.
What about Search Engine Optimisation and Positioning? Well, that’s an area in which Atomic Web Solutions has invested considerable time and energy. Please see information on pages within this web site.
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