Think of the people who visit your site as blind dates. When you open the door, your blind date usually knows whether they are attracted to you within the first minute. How do they know? Easy. By how you look, what you say, and how you treat them. If you open the door wearing the same clothes you wore in 1987, say, "Wow, from my friend's description, I thought you would be a lot better looking," and sneeze in your dates face, not only will you never get a second date, your date will run for his/her life.
The same rules apply to your website. When people do a search for something they want to buy, they usually have many sites to choose from. If yours does not impress them right off the bat, it takes about five seconds for them to find another that does show them what they want to see. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. You are just one among many.
So what do people want to see, you ask? There are 3 standards of website excellence, and they are the same standards you would use to judge your blind date:
1. How it looks: If I visit two different websites with the purpose of buying something, and those two websites sold the exact same product at the exact same price, I would buy from the site that looked better--the one whose design made me think, "Wow, these guys must be making good money if they can afford to hire a good graphic designer." The more money I think the business makes, the more I will identify them with value and professionalism.
The bottom line is, you need to make web design a priority. There are plenty of people out there who have graphic designer friends willing to design their website for next to nothing. Those people have the advantage because, even if they aren't the superior business, visitors will perceive them to be superior.
If you don't have any connections with graphic designers willing to do you a favor, see if you can find a starving artist willing to design the layout of your site. If anyone has an eye for aesthetics and is willing to work cheap, it's a starving artist. Once you know what your site should look like, either you or a web designer can bring the artist's vision to life.
Take the time to design something that represents your business or product well. Don't just throw up a website with gaudy wallpaper, out of focus pictures and graphics placed at random. Remember that first moment when you open the door to a blind date. Remember how much appearances count for in this world.
2. What you say: You want the person who visits your site to know instantly what you're selling and why they should buy from you. Visual representation has a lot to do with this, but you need to watch what you say as well. You must be clear, concise and focused. Don't make the visitor decipher a cryptic headline full of spelling and grammar errors. Include headlines that shout to the reader exactly what you want them to hear.
Go over your copy a hundred times if you must, or have a proofreader edit your copy. You must be sure that a potential customer won't get lost in a stream of consciousness narrative about your product or company, and come out saying, "What was that all about?"
Above all, think carefully about the colors you use for your font. Make sure there is plenty of contrast between the background and the font color. Never put a yellow font on an orange background. Also, be careful with white fonts on black backgrounds. If the letters are large, they will be easy enough to read, but if they are 14 point or smaller, your visitor won't even bother with the copy. No matter what colors you use, always make your font large enough. If people have to squint to read your copy, it is too small.
3. How you treat them--It is socially acceptable for a woman to keep her date waiting, letting him know that she doesn't consider him a priority. However, it is not acceptable for your site to keep a visitor waiting. If your site takes too long to load, the visitor will simply find another site.
Do what you can to ensure that your site will download quickly. One easy thing to remember is that, if you have too much content on a page, it's going to take a long time to load. Also, if you are on a free server, and you are sharing a port with others, your loading time will be lengthy. More specifically, if you have images that are uncompressed, they could be at 70k or 80k, as opposed to compressed images that look almost identical and load at a preferable rate of 5k or 10k.
For more information on jewelry and gemstones, we cordially invite you to visit http://www.morninglightjewelry.com to pick up your FREE copy of "How To Buy Jewelry And Gemstones Without Being Ripped Off." This concise, informative special report reveals almost everything you ever wanted to know about jewelry and gemstones, but were afraid to ask. Get your FREE report at http://www.morninglightjewelry.com
whole house cleaning Deerfield ..Public domain gives you a head start creating ebooks, ecourses,... Read More
Imagine you're going on a blind date. You've heard wonderful... Read More
Many websites make the mistake of being all flash and... Read More
If your are a new web designer, you may face... Read More
Colors are powerful, and create strong feelings. They can also... Read More
Conventional Wisdom states you should use Sub-Directories to organize your... Read More
This article is the result of a conversation I had... Read More
The icons in an application are the soul of the... Read More
Whether a business has just got off the ground or... Read More
Are you looking for somebody to build you a website,... Read More
Your website is your tool for showing the online community... Read More
Physical therapists have unique web presence needs. An effective site... Read More
For most people graphic design does not come easy. Unfortunately... Read More
There are plenty of Drupal Modules that you can install... Read More
Creating your own website can be fun and easy, as... Read More
To create your own great banner, you only need five... Read More
Automating your online business is one of the most important... Read More
How many times have you clicked on a website only... Read More
There are many ways to add fancy bells and whistles... Read More
Design sells. It's something that all of us know, but... Read More
Creating your own website is actually easy in today's world... Read More
If you think it's simply a case of who will... Read More
In the early years of the internet the actual design... Read More
Are you building a direct sales or mlm business online?... Read More
Geometric designs come in all shapes and sizes? and lines.... Read More
home cleaning services Des Plaines ..The title tags of your web pages are more important... Read More
A few years ago a lot of websites utilized frame... Read More
Creating your own website is actually easy in today's world... Read More
How many of the visitors to your web site take... Read More
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allows you to create fast loading... Read More
I am constantly bombarded with all sorts of advertisements, single-page... Read More
If you are going to have a web presence for... Read More
Imagine spinning someone around so profoundly and for so long... Read More
The internet is filled with sites and they are good... Read More
Web sites that feature products ? especially furniture or other... Read More
Don't just put your slogan in the title tag when... Read More
There are six important characteristics that can play a major... Read More
If you have a business, big or small you may... Read More
These days, it seems that everyone has a website. Unfortunately,... Read More
You have only 10 seconds to impress your potential buyer.... Read More
Flash is a powerful technology that can help you create... Read More
If you've a website that is not generating a lot... Read More
Customers will form an opinion of your business as soon... Read More
There can be zillions of reasons why your visitors return... Read More
What are websites? Are they sales tools for vendors and... Read More
One of the biggest problems with Web sites is that... Read More
Your web site is the key to your success on... Read More
Persons engaged in website design, here's a scoop for you!... Read More
Dear web site visitor.I can't tell you how glad I... Read More
So you're on the computer, as usual. Your eyes are... Read More
Web Design |