Just look at two search engine giants, Google and Yahoo, as an example. Yahoo's homepage is extremely cluttered, offering everything under the sun, while Google's design is very simplistic. It's no wonder Google has been much more successful than Yahoo. It would seem that Google even asked themselves, "what one action do we want each visitor to take the most once they visit your website?" and by keeping their designed focused on that action, they're answering that question, loud and clear... "search!"
So what kind of action do you want each visitor to take? If the purpose of your website is to make money, then ideally you'd like them to take some sort of action which will result in you getting paid. The best way to do this believe it or not, is to first offer something for FREE to the visitor in exchange of his/her email address. This may seem counterintuitive, but it's a fact that most visitors will not purchase whatever it is you're selling upon first visit, but many of those same visitors would be interested in something FREE in exchange for their name and email address. People like FREE stuff.
By placing priority on capturing your visitors name and email address, you will begin to build an email list of prospective customers, and more importantly you can start building relationships with them. This is the most effective way to profit from the traffic to your website. If you treat your list the way you'd like to be treated, they'll likely buy not only one product or service you recommend, but they're likely to become your customers for life, buying products you recommend for years to come.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Web Design Advice For the Technically Challenged
If designing your own website intimidates you, and you're not quite sure where to start, follow these tips to creating a website design that converts visitors into customers.
First thing you need to do is ask yourself, "what one action do I want each visitor to take the most once they visit my website?"
Why?
This is because many newcomers get so wrapped up in the aesthetics of their website design that they forget the very reason why they're making their website. They lose sight of the most important factor in running a profitable business, and that is your "bottom line". If you're website doesn't convert visitors into customers then it doesn't matter how "pretty" your website is does it?
It's been proven that if you narrow it down to one action, therefore giving your visitor only one possible action to take (not counting the action of leaving your website), you'll have a higher percentage of visitors taking the desired action due to there being less overall actions to take, less options. That's right, by overloading the navigation and website with more links, banners, widgets, and other types of "flashy" design elements, essentially giving your visitors more options, you're likely to see low conversion rates, and a higher percentage of visitors leaving shortly after arriving to your website.
This is why you see those websites that are nothing but a sales letter with minimal links. It's because it's effectively converts browsers into buyers. Many web designers will knock these types of websites because they aren't pleasing to the eye, but web designers don't really know the first thing when it comes to creating a website that converts visitors into customers at a high rate. Yes, it's important that your site doesn't look like it was made by a 5 year old, but you can easily portray a professional image by keeping it simple.
First thing you need to do is ask yourself, "what one action do I want each visitor to take the most once they visit my website?"
Why?
This is because many newcomers get so wrapped up in the aesthetics of their website design that they forget the very reason why they're making their website. They lose sight of the most important factor in running a profitable business, and that is your "bottom line". If you're website doesn't convert visitors into customers then it doesn't matter how "pretty" your website is does it?
It's been proven that if you narrow it down to one action, therefore giving your visitor only one possible action to take (not counting the action of leaving your website), you'll have a higher percentage of visitors taking the desired action due to there being less overall actions to take, less options. That's right, by overloading the navigation and website with more links, banners, widgets, and other types of "flashy" design elements, essentially giving your visitors more options, you're likely to see low conversion rates, and a higher percentage of visitors leaving shortly after arriving to your website.
This is why you see those websites that are nothing but a sales letter with minimal links. It's because it's effectively converts browsers into buyers. Many web designers will knock these types of websites because they aren't pleasing to the eye, but web designers don't really know the first thing when it comes to creating a website that converts visitors into customers at a high rate. Yes, it's important that your site doesn't look like it was made by a 5 year old, but you can easily portray a professional image by keeping it simple.
CSS Website Design
Mostly CSS properties of a website are controlled by using an external CSS file. So if a user needs change in their websites then they only need to edit a single external CSS file. Thus editing of websites also became easier with the use of CSS design. CSS website design is also easier to learn and understand as compared to other designing tools. CSS offers table less design and thus it helps to reduce the code of your web page. Reduction in the code size help to reduce the load time of websites designed using CSS whereas load time in a site made in HTML is more because the table structure needs to be reloaded every time the user clicks a new page.
CSS design also helps the search engines to spider the site easily. So with all the advantages as explained above CSS is the best designing tool for web designers. Beginners who want to become good web designers should start learning CSS after learning basic HTML. You can start surfing any site that is providing free CSS website design tutorials or you can also purchase an ebook.
CSS design also helps the search engines to spider the site easily. So with all the advantages as explained above CSS is the best designing tool for web designers. Beginners who want to become good web designers should start learning CSS after learning basic HTML. You can start surfing any site that is providing free CSS website design tutorials or you can also purchase an ebook.
Website Design
Originally HTML was used to design web pages but it had many limitations and because of these limitations search for more efficient technology continued. CSS evolved as a web design option better than HTML. The limitations were removed in CSS. CSS is an abbreviated form of Cascade Style Sheet. CSS website design is a web designing method that allows keeping the content and design separately. If you are using CSS to design your web pages then your website will have number of advantages such as editing of web pages become easier, web pages become more user friendly, reduce the load time of website pages and the most important is that the website becomes search engine friendly.
Past years have recorded increase in the internet users surfing websites through their small screen handheld mobile devices such as cellular phones, PDAs etc. CSS designed web pages made the task of surfing websites easier through handheld devices. With this development, now people can surf websites outside their workplace, in their bedroom or even when they are walking or driving. This has been possible using CSS design because CSS allows controlling the structure of web page according to the resolution of the screen. You can create different CSS files to be viewed at different resolution and the webpage is displayed according to the CSS defined for the resolution of target screen. For example, you can create 3 column CSS website design layout to be best viewed at 1024x768 pixels and 2 columns CSS design layout to be best viewed at 800x600 pixels.
Past years have recorded increase in the internet users surfing websites through their small screen handheld mobile devices such as cellular phones, PDAs etc. CSS designed web pages made the task of surfing websites easier through handheld devices. With this development, now people can surf websites outside their workplace, in their bedroom or even when they are walking or driving. This has been possible using CSS design because CSS allows controlling the structure of web page according to the resolution of the screen. You can create different CSS files to be viewed at different resolution and the webpage is displayed according to the CSS defined for the resolution of target screen. For example, you can create 3 column CSS website design layout to be best viewed at 1024x768 pixels and 2 columns CSS design layout to be best viewed at 800x600 pixels.
Logo Design For Company
Logos are the face of a company-from an international one to a small business. Nowadays, having a company or business logo is a must, even for those who started out as a traditional, brick-and-mortar business and branched into online marketing and other transactions. If you are a designer, part of your portfolio may have included logo designs from various clients, from business ones to organizations and other civil society groups.
Since online-based businesses are booming, there are clients who will come to you with logo designs that don't work on screen. They will want to you to do something with the logo design they have so it would look good on their web page. Remember that logos are sacred cows-clients are so particular about their logos. To help you out with the client, it is better to sit down with them and discuss about their idea of the logo they want to have first, before making one that would "fit" their web page. Here are a few important questions that you should ask your client.
First, ask them the message they want to communicate through their logo design. Of course, the most basic thing to ask is, "What does your company do?" Try to find out who are your client's target market and customer base. Do they want to build name recall? Can you use an acronym of the client's name as your logo design? Always keep in mind that a good logo is aesthetically pleasing, is memorable, and is appropriate to your demographic.
Second, ask the clients about their competition. Maybe they have a logo design in mind that looks similar with their competitor's logo. For you to have a definite idea on what logo they want you to make, request for examples of professional, known or not, logos the clients like. Look these over. Ask if the client prefers a certain kind of font or color. Include several samples of layout designs, too. If the clients want a certain type of layout, arrange the elements in a similar fashion over top of the logo design inspiration and see what is working.
Third, make some quick sketches of the symbol and typography of the logo your clients have in mind as you discuss it. Think about how the logo will be used. Discuss with your client how people would see it. For example, will the logo be displayed on a big billboard or placed on a website? There are certain design parameters to be followed regarding placements and use. It is best for everyone if your clients understand some of the factors considered in designing a logo.
Few logos survive the transition from print to Web. Clients should understand that designing logos is not just a creative process but there is also an element of functional strategy to be considered. It's encouraged that companies should get help from experts and invest on it.
Since online-based businesses are booming, there are clients who will come to you with logo designs that don't work on screen. They will want to you to do something with the logo design they have so it would look good on their web page. Remember that logos are sacred cows-clients are so particular about their logos. To help you out with the client, it is better to sit down with them and discuss about their idea of the logo they want to have first, before making one that would "fit" their web page. Here are a few important questions that you should ask your client.
First, ask them the message they want to communicate through their logo design. Of course, the most basic thing to ask is, "What does your company do?" Try to find out who are your client's target market and customer base. Do they want to build name recall? Can you use an acronym of the client's name as your logo design? Always keep in mind that a good logo is aesthetically pleasing, is memorable, and is appropriate to your demographic.
Second, ask the clients about their competition. Maybe they have a logo design in mind that looks similar with their competitor's logo. For you to have a definite idea on what logo they want you to make, request for examples of professional, known or not, logos the clients like. Look these over. Ask if the client prefers a certain kind of font or color. Include several samples of layout designs, too. If the clients want a certain type of layout, arrange the elements in a similar fashion over top of the logo design inspiration and see what is working.
Third, make some quick sketches of the symbol and typography of the logo your clients have in mind as you discuss it. Think about how the logo will be used. Discuss with your client how people would see it. For example, will the logo be displayed on a big billboard or placed on a website? There are certain design parameters to be followed regarding placements and use. It is best for everyone if your clients understand some of the factors considered in designing a logo.
Few logos survive the transition from print to Web. Clients should understand that designing logos is not just a creative process but there is also an element of functional strategy to be considered. It's encouraged that companies should get help from experts and invest on it.
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