Basic Things To Know About Good Web Design

What Do I Really Need In A Web Site?

Some business owners plan to use their website to acquire customers or generate leads and expect it to act as a 24/7 sales person. Other business owners plan to use their website as more of a secondary marketing tool, a place to send prospects after they have made contact through a face-to-face meeting or a phone call. Either way, your website is going to account for a percentage of your annual budget.

If you plan to use your site as a secondary marketing tool, then you may only need a static website. Static websites are usually under 15 pages and do not include a content management system. It is like an online brochure. You will want it to have a polished, professional look because it does represent your business, but you may not need any interactive features. It is simply a place prospective customers can go to learn more about your business and decide if they wish to contact you. Make sure that the graphics and colors are impressive and that you have the right look and feel because your site could be the determining factor in your prospective customer deciding to go with you or not.


If you plan to use your website as a primary marketing tool, then obviously you will want to allocate a greater percentage of your advertising budget towards it. You will probably want some interactive features such as a contact form or a search feature which will make the cost of your site go up, but if you plan to use your site as a marketing tool, you must invest the money to get it right, otherwise you will convert very few visitors into customers.

Choosing a designer

When you contact a designer to create your website, make sure they take the time to sit down with you and get to know you and your business. You will want someone who understands how you plan to use your website. After all, you don’t need an expensive custom-designed site with a plethora of interactive features if you’re planning to use your site as an online brochure. If you plan to use your site as a primary marketing tool, then it needs to have all the necessary features to convert prospects into customers.

Here are some basic elements of good design:

  • Text
    • Background does not interrupt the text
    Text is big enough to read, but not too big
    The hierarchy of information is perfectly clear
    Columns of text are narrower than in a book to make reading easier on the screen
     
  • Navigation
    • Navigation buttons and bars are easy to understand and use
    Navigation is consistent throughout web site
    Navigation buttons and bars provide the visitor with a clue as to where they are, what page of the site they are currently on
    Frames, if used, are not obtrusive
    A large site has an index or site map
     
  • Links
    • Link colors coordinate with page colors
    Links are underlined so they are instantly clear to the visitor
     
  • Graphics
    • Buttons are not big
    Every graphic has an alt label
    Every graphic link has a matching text link
    Graphics and backgrounds use browser-safe colors
    Animated graphics turn off by themselves
     
  • General Design
    • Pages download quickly
    First page and home page fit into 800 x 600 pixel space
    All of the other pages have the immediate visual impact within 800 x 600 pixels
    Good use of graphic elements (photos, subheads, pull quotes) to break up large areas of text
    Every web page in the site looks like it belongs to the same site; there are repetitive elements that carry throughout the pages