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What makes a good design?
By admin | March 7, 2008
Smart navigation. Navigation should be intuitive, laid out according to established web standards that users have grown to expect, and include everything the user needs to keep them on one site.
Search engine optimization. This is a whole other category of interest, and there are lots of myths out there that have to be debunked first. Suffice it to say, this is where an expert web designer can be invaluable.
A unified theme or scheme. Colors, logos, and structure should all work together to look like the site was planned that way.
Action. A bit of animation or moving text or dynamic content, maybe a little flyout navigation, can make the site seem like someone’s home. In the same way photos (of people shaking hands, of someone signing a contract, etc.) give the appearance of life. A video or two, a contest, a new feed… these continually communicate that it’s alive.
Interactivity. Lead capture forms or surveys are excellent ways of maximizing hits. A blog with comment section or subscription capability is a smart business generator.
Change. News feeds are the simplest example. Ever changing information translates into return visitors. A blog, of course, is the single most powerful means of ensuring that information is constantly updated. Search engines love it, and visitors flock to it.
Information. Weaving relevant personal info, human interest, and business content make the site less like a billboad and more like a representation of a brick and mortar business where you can walk in and shake hands.
Topics: Free Tips |
May 14th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Really enjoyed this post. Some good advice about proper design. I think that you hit the nail on the head. Many sites are “dead”. They were put up by a designer who came in and contracted out to put the site up and the site is designed in such a way as to direct you to a phone call or direct you to the offices.
The design of the site is for it to represent a snap shot of the corporate culture that produced the website when the consultant/developer was working with the site. It hasn’t been updated and it won’t be in the near future. Their is no contact info for the overwhelming majority of the employees, because that might change and we wouldn’t want to have to update the site.
Sites like that really annoy me. They are like photographs of a dead organization. As a web savvy customer or potential employee, when I see a site like that I have a Lost in Space flashback, “Danger Will Robinson, Danger!”. If the organization isn’t capable of updating the webpage, then it probably isn’t capable of responding to my needs as a customer!
You hit the nail on the head!
Jason Stone
Instructional Designer & Consultant