web-design-tips

by Mary Killelea November 3, 2009

Did you know?

80% of users scan pages (users don’t read every word) - Lesson: Write for your audience and the medium in which you are delivering your message
Only 10% of people look at the web page below the fold. - Lesson: put your most important info on the top half of your page.
Users decide to stay or leave your page within 10-15 seconds - Lesson Make a good first impression and give them something good to keep them interested in staying on your site. (make your site sticky)

It’s important to have goals when creating your site:

Company goals

Define your website goals

do you want to increase sales?
do you want to build a list of leads?
do you want lots of traffic?
do you want to sell a service, product, share news or entertain?
what valuable web content will you share? white papers, ebook, blog articles, videos

Provide value for your customers

Know which type of site you you should have to best suit your business goals.

Website Must haves:

professional, non distracting design, use a natural palette of colors, create a strong contrast between a pages background and it’s text, use an average of 3 different colors consistently throughout your site
call to action
formatting - write for your audience and the medium
easy clean and clear navigation
strong enticing headlines (utilizing keywords)
rich interesting copy
current up to date info (never out of date info)
your page must load quickly
contact info
contact form
no pop ups
no frames
avoid distracting bells and whistles

Great resources for choosing colors for your site:

Portland web design, web design tips

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