by Brian Lamacraft

Created on: November 23, 2009   Last Updated: November 29, 2009

Designing a great website takes time and patience. To design a great website you need to pay attention to several key factors and you can adjust them to fit with a business website or a personal one. This article will focus on the business website.

Have A Plan

Don't just rush out and try to develop a website without a proper plan. You need to think about your business and how you want to apply it to the web. You may want to sell products so you will need images of your goods and online payment processors need to be set up. You might be in need of a website designer or team for your project. Plan out your design and what you want to say because your website can leave either a very positive or a very negative impression on people when they first visit your site. Take the time to properly develop your ideas before going forward with your website design.

Navigation and Look

Your website should have a navigation system that makes sense and is easy to follow for your visitors. Don't hide your navigation behind cute graphics or animations, make it the first thing people see when they visit your site. Splash pages are generally not recommended for business websites you want your customers to see your content right away. If your website is large you should have some type of search function on the site so your visitors can find what they are looking for quickly using the search. You should try to avoid dark colors on your site and stick to white backgrounds and black text. Darker backgrounds can be harder to read and cam make your eyes tired. Only use colors if you feel that it enhances your site in some positive way.

Content

The single most important part of your website is your content. If your in business and are selling something you need to inform your visitors about your products. Make sure everything is clearly labeled and great descriptions are given. If your products come in different colors, or sizes make sure this information is provided. Don't have vague information on your site it needs to be as clear as possible. If you have many products, be sure to have categories set up so your site is organized in a logical way. Graphics and clear images are very important if your selling a product so these should be the best that they can be withmultiple images from different angles if possible. Samples on your site can be provide in the form of sounds, video descriptions, or even giveaways. You need to keep your visitors on your site for as long as possible and you can accomplish this by providing rich content.

Contact

Another key point in website design is your contact information. Be sure you have email contact for the various departments of your company as well as a general contact email. Phone numbers should be provided so customers can call you. Forums or chat rooms can be applied to your site if you feel this will enhance your site. Create a faq page for common questions and make sure you provide clear shipping information for your products. The more your visitors know about you the more comfortable they will feel buying products from you.

Conclusion

A great website has several key points including a plan, navigation, content and clear contact information. Be sure to take your time when designing a website and you will be rewarded at the end of the process.

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