How to design a website that works

When I first started designing sites I thought it was only about creating something that looks good, this is part of it but not the whole story. The thing is if your site isn’t easy to use for your average visitor they aren’t going to hang around long, not when there’s a million other sites selling the same product or service. To me a site that can convert visitors into customers is way more important than the latest marketing or seo technique.

Navigation is key because web users have a shorter attention span than most and if they can’t find the main sections on your site quickly they will leave fast. Don’t let your design get in the way of your menu as it should stand out with a colour scheme that is easy to read.

Flash animation can be fun when it’s used in the right circumstances, it can make a boring article exciting, however you should never build an entire site in it. For a start google can’t understand it so you won’t get much free search engine traffic. Also the millions of people who now use iphones won’t have access to your site.

Overloading visitors with too much content is almost as bad as too little. So often when on a product detail page I’m assaulted with 10 pages of technical data when all I wanted was the dimensions. Clearly segment your data because customers don’t have time to wade through all the information to find what they need.

Many webmasters only test their sites design in the browser they use but this is a serious mistake. Not only do you need to test in different browsers but the different versions of each. For example older versions of internet explorer render some designs very differently than the latest one. You really have to test them all to know.

Consistency is essential if you want to appear professional and there’s nothing more unprofessional than standard fonts and colors which change throughout the site. If your using Arial then stick to it otherwise I’m going to get the impression you don’t know what you’re doing, and I’m pretty unlikely to hand over my credit card details. I hope these tips help next time you’re designing a site.

For more web-design advice check out my new blog for webmasters

Viral marketing for beginners

There’s a reason why viral marketing has taken off on the net in that last few years and it’s because it’s never been so cheap to reach so many people. At its core viral marketing is all about letting other people spread the word about your site for you. But how does viral marketing work and where do you start?

One thing that I have noticed about all great viral content is that it’s unique and original. Surfers today really have no interest in anything they have seen before so in order to stand out from the crowd you have to be different. That doesn’t mean you can’t offer a new angle on an old idea though, some of those campaigns have been very successful too.

Even though people usually create viral campaigns for purely commercial reasons you can’t “oversell” things too much. Surfers are very vary of corporate advertising and are always reluctant to share things with their friends that are too “branded”. Remember the main purpose of the campaign is to make people aware of you and not to just “sell”.

It’s important to get the ball rolling at the start of the campaign. Even if you have the most “sharable” content ever you really have to get someone prominent (i.e. a blogger) to get your campaign off the ground. It’s only after you hit a critical mass of people that your idea can start to snowball and this is when viral marketing becomes real value for money.

It amazes me how many people start a viral marketing campaign but have no real idea how well it worked by the end of it. You may be getting more sales/readers/visitors on your site but is this as a direct result of your marketing? It’s important to track what works and what doesn’t in order to improve in any kind of marketing environment.

It’s not easy trying to create something that 1000s of people will automatically want to send to their friends. It is possible to do though, even if the hardest part is coming up with the initial idea.

If you’re interested in learning more about Viral marketing then check out my marketing blog for more info. I have lots of ideas there on how you can attract more visitors.