Don't Be a Website Design Dinosaur
Teena Rose is a columnist, personal branding expert, public speaker, and career-marketing guru. She's author of a book on "How to Start a Resume Writing Business," entitled "Starting a Home- or Office-based Resume Business" ... a major tool you'll need to start, operate, and profit from a resume service. The book covers all the "nuggets" you'll need during the start-up and daily operations of a resume writing business.
So you've decided to take on the task of designing your own website. There are a multitude of services online that will assist first-timers in building a site quickly and conveniently, like BlueVoda.com, Homestead.com and even Yahoo. There are countless things you can do to enhance your website. But you should also focus on the things you shouldn't do to your website.
Whether it's a navigation issue, sloppy content or a site that's just plain ugly, the simplest website design mistakes can cause a potential customer to click off your site and move on to the competition's site. It has been well-documented that Web surfers and shoppers are turned off extremely quickly if they don't like the website they're on. It's as if they went into a brick-and-mortar store and didn't like the feel of the place.
Here are a few common design mistakes to avoid when designing a website:
:: The Selfish Site: A website isn't for you. It's for your customers. If you think that customers care about the effort you put into your website, you're dead wrong. The public wants either information, entertainment or to purchase something when they visit a site. In a matter of seconds, your website must define what it's all about right on the home page. If a potential customer is confused by what you're trying to market or information you're trying to pass along, they will be gone in a heartbeat.
:: Faulty Plan: If a homebuilder worked without blueprints, it wouldn't take long for the foundation to crack, the walls to buckle and the house to come tumbling down. The same goes for your website. Have a design plan first before ever getting started. Build your site around your home page, which should drive the design of all the remaining pages.
:: Contact sport: Believe or not, some websites don't have this one down. A great Web design doesn't make much difference if your potential customers can't easily get in touch. That's why putting contact information that's clearly visible is a must. It should include phone and fax numbers, and email and mailing addresses. The most efficient way to go about this is to have a "contact us" link at the bottom of the page.
:: Flash point: If you're selling something on the Web, you don't want to run interference with your customer while trying to make the sale. If your page is overdone, filled with flash, cumbersome graphics, annoying animations, or an overload of text and pictures, you're asking for trouble. Web shoppers don't want to be bombarded with fluff. Organize pages in consistent, clean and unified presentation. Don't have 18 different fonts and seven different colors on one page. You don't want your site to look like a tie-dyed T-shirt.
:: Anger management: Pop-ups may lead the league in the most annoying thing on a Web page, but broken links and disabling the back button are close seconds. Test your hyperlinks often. If a visitor to your site clicks on a link that goes nowhere, you can bet they'll go somewhere else. And if you think disabling the browser's back button is an opportunity to keep visitors moving forward through your site, think again. You will lose potential clients in a heartbeat. Besides, broken browser back buttons are the domain of the online porn industry, which uses this trick often. So, unless you want to be in that camp, steer clear. Sales & Marketing
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