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Web Site Design Tips
More Web Site Design Tips 71. Testing your web site's effectiveness What does this mean: In the last 30 days 3.35 percent of all visitors to this page requested a site evaluation from Web-Host-Watch. Do you ever wonder if your site is worth all the trouble and expense you incur?
Isn't it about time You knew the answers to these questions? A website effectiveness test will measure your web site's relative potential to help you achieve your business objectives. 72. What Benefits Will You See From A Web Site Effectiveness Test? An effectiveness test looks at your web site as an extension of your total business. It highlights the relative alignment of your site with the goals of your business. It also sheds light on how your web site design, your measurements and your goals are aligned.
How does the web site effectiveness review work? It utilizes a comparisons which measure how well the various sections of your web site are aligned with your business objectives. These comparisons can be fairly objective based on information you provide combined with taking an up-close look at your current site. Values are then assigned to every section based on established criteria for an effective site. The average of these values yields a relative effectiveness score unique to your web site. It most typically does not review elements of graphic design , site navigation, or content from a creative perspective. 73. What Is Covered In A Web Site Effectiveness Review? A web site effectiveness review will cover:
Web site design tips - Generally, designing a site has very little in common with other creative processes. To help clarify and simplify the process we've produced the guidelines which follow explaining what you need to focus on when considering the design of your website. 74. List Your Business Objectives Compile a list of your business objectives: Business websites should never be classified as marketing, advertising, or information sites unless that is their true purpose. Business websites are, in fact, extensions of your real business. Therefore your website should be aimed at positively affecting your stated business goals. 75. List Your Website Objectives Using your business objectives as a base, list your objectives for your website: To design a successful, effective website you have to consider what you really expect to accomplish with the website. These website objectives should be fully aligned with your business objectives. For example, if your business objective is to grow sales, one of your website goals might be to grow the number of visitors who request information, or the number of visitors who email you. Say, for example, your business objective is to lower the cost of customer service, your website's goal could be to multiply the number of people who use your automated self-help function. 76. Define Your Site's Functions and Functionality The website objectives be followed by a list of the site's main sections. Your site objectives will also assist you in defining the features and the functionality of each section. Keep in mind the web site design tips discussed earlier about "alignment". You'll want your site's sections to be aligned with your site's objectives, and your site's objectives to be aligned with your business objectives. You must also define your preferred action that you want your website visitors to take on each primary page/section of your website. The default action for every visitor is hitting the back button. So if you want your visitors to do otherwise then you must provide an adequate motivation for them. For example, say your website objective is to boost the number of people who use your automated self-help function then that particular site section must provide the visitor with the necessary information, search functions, and navigation to help visitors easily locate the information they seek. 77. List Your Most Common and Popular Keywords This is so important that "web site design tips" doesn't even come close to describing it. "Thou shalt" is more like it: List all the keywords that visitors might use to locate your website. Remember this: Search engine optimization MUST be planned from site inception. You don't want to even think about creating any website content without considering how the search engines will find, index and then rank your website. If you haven't conducted your own deep and wide keyword research then you'd better complete it before you attempt to develop ANY content whatsoever. 78. E-Commerce If you randomly search the web you'll start to notice something rather interesting: Nearly every website is an e-commerce website. Practically every one of them is selling something. They all have shopping carts. And they all take orders via the web. If you own a small business and you still don't have an e-commerce website this fact should give you pause. Annually web sales have been increasing at double digit rates with no sign of slowing. Has your offline business been doing that well during the past few years? The Internet landscape today is littered with marginal e-commerce sites that ignored these web site design tips and, as a result, there is almost nothing differentiate one from the other. E-commerce functionality is becoming ubiquitous but most web sites have far go to distinguish themselves. If you really want to succeed in the current Internet gold rush then you'd better focus your site design on basic business principals. What's the best way to design a business-focused site? Simple, start with business basics. Today competition on the web is more fierce than it is in your city. And next year it's going to be be even worse. 79. Define Your Specific Business Goals There is plenty of readily accessible information on how to define business objectives and most small businesses have no issue with the process. The expression "Earn a profit" usually covers it well. But if you wish to go further you'll want to be cautious of a few more things. You don't want objectives that are vague. The objective must measurable. "Earning a profit" is indeed measurable but it's probably not succinct enough since it doesn't define kust what "profit" is. If you earn five dollars, would you say that is adequate profit? A better objective would be to "earn monthly profit of $2000.00" or "maintain profit margin of 20% of gross sales". You wouldn't want to set your objective as "sell $10,000.00 each month" because selling $10,000.00 each month doesn't ensure a profit. So the more clearly articulated your goal the easier it will be to determine (measure) whether or not you've reached your objective. You also don't want to confuse strategies and tactics with objectives. Strategies are the plans by which you'll achieve your objectives. Tactics define the things you'll do to execute your strategies. "Increase online sales to $1000.00 per month" should not be a business objective. It is a strategy to help you meet your business objective. "Provide discounts for online purchases" is not a business objective. It's a tactic.
80. Your Unique Value Proposition Understand your company's competitive advantages and disadvantages: What is your business you good at? The answer is not low price, great customer support and/or speedy delivery. Today (particularly on the Internet) all these things are a given. Instead you have to look at the "value added" service you provide. What is it that you do better than all of your competition? And what is it that you don't do as well?
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