Who cares if your website impresses yourself? You won't make much money selling products to yourself you're looking for new customers. They, not you, have to come first when it comes to designing your site. There are six important rules to follow.
Rule #1: Fast sites make money. Your customers spend a lot of money on broadband internet speeds, so make sure your site takes advantage of that! A simple site that pops up immediately on a screen will help keep your customers from going elsewhere with their business.
Rule #2: Don't make users download anything. Sure, ActiveX and other technologies can do amazing things but they're a pain to install, and open up users to viruses or other bad things. HTML is powerful enough to do whatever you need it to.
Rule #3: Don't be tacky. Customers trust a salesman who exemplifies class, so make sure your web site does this, too. Cut out the blinking text, animated GIFs, and music that plays uncontrollably when a page loads. They make the page load slowly, too.
Rule #4: Don't "Do-it-yourself" on a business page. If you are building a personal page and learning to create your own HTML code, then that's OK, but if you want professional results then go for professional custom web design. Like it or not, businesses are judged by their storefronts, and if your electronic storefront looks junky, you are going to turn off potential customers.
Rule #5: Know what you are selling. If you are selling craft supplies, then your home page doesn't need to have a puppy on it. You will get better results if you stick to the theme instead of trying to be cute.
Rule #6: Webmasters are the key. If you don't hire a talented webmaster, your site is doomed. Hire someone who is a good fit for your product and whatever presence you plan on having and while not every webmaster can know everything, make sure yours knows exactly how your web site works and how to fix it. Believe it every web site goes down eventually, and a good webmaster can make sure your site isn't down for the count.
Custom web design comes down to, once and for all, good design principles. Play by the rules, and you'll have an inexpensive but customizable site within your budget and appealing to your core audience. Plan ahead, and you'll have great results. - 16039
Rule #1: Fast sites make money. Your customers spend a lot of money on broadband internet speeds, so make sure your site takes advantage of that! A simple site that pops up immediately on a screen will help keep your customers from going elsewhere with their business.
Rule #2: Don't make users download anything. Sure, ActiveX and other technologies can do amazing things but they're a pain to install, and open up users to viruses or other bad things. HTML is powerful enough to do whatever you need it to.
Rule #3: Don't be tacky. Customers trust a salesman who exemplifies class, so make sure your web site does this, too. Cut out the blinking text, animated GIFs, and music that plays uncontrollably when a page loads. They make the page load slowly, too.
Rule #4: Don't "Do-it-yourself" on a business page. If you are building a personal page and learning to create your own HTML code, then that's OK, but if you want professional results then go for professional custom web design. Like it or not, businesses are judged by their storefronts, and if your electronic storefront looks junky, you are going to turn off potential customers.
Rule #5: Know what you are selling. If you are selling craft supplies, then your home page doesn't need to have a puppy on it. You will get better results if you stick to the theme instead of trying to be cute.
Rule #6: Webmasters are the key. If you don't hire a talented webmaster, your site is doomed. Hire someone who is a good fit for your product and whatever presence you plan on having and while not every webmaster can know everything, make sure yours knows exactly how your web site works and how to fix it. Believe it every web site goes down eventually, and a good webmaster can make sure your site isn't down for the count.
Custom web design comes down to, once and for all, good design principles. Play by the rules, and you'll have an inexpensive but customizable site within your budget and appealing to your core audience. Plan ahead, and you'll have great results. - 16039
About the Author:
Stephen Grisham, Sr. is a Staff Writer for InfoServe Media, a small business web site company that provides custom web design. Visit today, or call 1 (800) 838-2203 for a free quote.
