Way back in February, I wrote about busy websites and what it is about them that put visitors off, and things like music, widgets, scrolling text and pop-ups. Taste is of course a personal thing, and sometimes there really is no accounting for it. However, everyone is entitled to an opinion and the argument must be balanced.

To say that busy sites don’t work at all is wrong; Ebay and Amazon, even MSN and Yahoo are proof that they do. All are packed with content including Flash advertisements and very little clear space to be found.

So, what is it about these sites and others like them that seem to attract visitors whilst busy sites in general tend to repel them?

It may have something to do with the length of time they’ve been in existence. Both Ebay and Amazon have been around since 1995 and have grown up with the internet so we’ve become extremely familiar and even comfortable with them over the years.

It could also be the fact that although busy, they do have some structure as to the layout because despite being content-packed, Ebay and Amazon are generally very easy to use and navigate and their success proves that users appear to have no problem coping with the amount of information found on each page.

This site here is another that may be familiar to many and can’t be said to be lacking content, but from a personal point of view it does nothing for me except put me off strictly on looks alone. I don’t know how well it does in terms of visitor conversions; it might be extremely effective or it might be turning them off in droves; who knows?

Regardless of performance, the site no doubt has its fans because as I said earlier it’s a matter of personal taste, but because the look of the site actually hasn’t changed much over the years, maybe the owner has hit on a formula that works very well.

Whatever you views on busy websites, I’m still fairly certain that most pet hates centre on the widgets, music and pop-ups and anything else present that doesn’t serve a useful purpose.

Until next time.

As a web designer, you want visitors to your website to like what they see and if they don’t initiate contact on that particular occasion, will hopefully return to do so later, but what else can you do to in an attempt to keep them looking?

One area to think about is a portfolio page; a place to blow your own trumpet and show off your dazzling design skills and expertise, but more especially, a place to wow your visitors.

The majority of web design businesses do indeed have a portfolio page but strangely there are many that don’t and this could perhaps be one reason why some visitors fail to be converted into paying customers.

Customer testimonials are fine and often work well but if an interested visitor is inclined to check them out they can’t do it through your website but a portfolio page is instant.  

However, a portfolio page is far more than just examples of your past work: it should serve to give visitors ideas and inspiration for their own websites particularly if they are unsure of what they want.

It’s a good idea to be varied with your choices when deciding which sites to show and not restrict those choices to just the all-singing all-dancing sites because simple brochure sites still have their place on the internet and your portfolio page should reflect that and appeal to a wide range of tastes.

It’s also worth noting that whatever websites you decide to display on your portfolio have clickable links, either next to or underneath the image or within the image itself so that visitors can go directly to a live example of your work. Images with no links will only frustrate and annoy them and make them unlikely to visit your site again.

Many potential customers know they want a website but have a hard job envisaging how that site should look and perform. Others may have a half-formed idea in their heads but need to see other examples that may help to make that idea complete – a portfolio page could help them to achieve this and more importantly, commission you to do it.

Until next time.

At the end of every year and the start of a new one there are countless articles to be found speculating on web design trends, covering everything from the technical to the aesthetic and it will come as little surprise that some predictions are consistently bang on the money whilst others just don’t happen at all.  

One area that did interest me however was that of colour and reading through various blogs and forums, I came across numerous discussions as to what colours are expected to be hot and which were not.

As you’d expect, opinions were wide ranging with just about every colour combination getting a mention as being the next new thing.

The issue I have with colour usage predictions when it comes to corporate websites though is that they can really only apply to newer businesses because I suspect most older and longer established businesses that unless going for a totally different look would be loathe to change something that has grown to become an essential part of their corporate identity.

Take Aviva for example; they used to be known as Norwich Union but rebranded a few years ago, but whatever else altered within the company itself, their corporate colours and logo remain the same; consequently, they are still recognisable even though the name has changed.

Building brand awareness relies as much on constant exposure of corporate colours as it does on taglines and logos, and done properly, consistently and with enough time, people should be able to recognise a particular brand by any one of these elements on their own.

Colour of course is a matter of personal preference but as I said earlier, new businesses still in the early stages of building their brands face fewer restrictions than the more established companies where following colour trends could perhaps do them more harm than good.

Until next time.

The subject of today’s post centres on a subject the importance of which is often overlooked, ignored or completely dismissed by website owners – website copy!

Many businesses commissioning new websites take the view that hiring a professional copywriter is an unnecessary expense and prefer instead to concentrate their efforts and budgets solely on the website itself.

There are others who fancy themselves as wordsmiths and compose their own copy, and to be fair, some of them are more than capable – but not many.

It’s not about being able to string a sentence together or using clichéd sales speak and jargon or simply a case of putting some hastily written words on a site and thinking that visitors will be so impressed they will immediately want to do business - it doesn’t work that way.

Effective copy should talk to visitors, inform them, engage and interest them and persuade them to take a desired course of action and copywriters have a better understanding than most of what it takes to do that.

It’s often said that a website has only seconds to capture a visitor’s attention and it’s the immediate look of the website that has to achieve this, but once that task is completed and the visitor has decided to stay and learn more, the copy is the next stop, and if it isn’t up to scratch all that good design work is wasted.

Good copy is as vital to the success of a website as is the design itself and the two can’t be divorced from each other without affecting that success. Any business commissioning a new website and even those with existing sites should seriously consider the benefits of using a professional copywriter.

As I said earlier, many businesses see copywriting services as an unnecessary expense and possibly something they’ll never change their opinions on which is their choice of course. I like to think that the more enlightened see it as an investment.

Until next time.

I had intended to write about a particular web design topic today, but after getting into a discussion on the issue of displaying prices on websites it will have to wait until another post.

When it comes to displaying prices on websites there is divided opinion as to whether it’s a good or bad move. Those in the ‘yes’ camp would argue that not displaying prices deters visitors from going any further into a website or making enquiries and then leaving to search for other sites that do show the cost of their products.

To a point this may be true because we are all well aware of how ecommerce sites work; price comparison with a few clicks of the mouse; vat and delivery charges added (if applicable) and pay – job done!

Shoppers don’t go into supermarkets and fill their baskets and trolleys and wait to reach the checkout before they know roughly how much the total will be; so of course ecommerce sites must display prices or they just wouldn’t work.

Many of those in favour of price displays think it should apply to all websites but for various reasons this wouldn’t be practical. Obviously, not all sites sell physical goods and businesses selling particular services have to be a little cautious about displaying their prices as often the value of those services aren’t easily defined.

I have heard this subject debated quite a few times and to be honest I think both sides have a point. I’m sure a tariff of charges makes it much easier for website visitors simply because they negate the need for them to contact the site for a quote then have to wait for a reply.

On the other hand, not showing a price menu doesn’t do any harm either as most shoppers are extremely price-conscious anyway and don’t mind having to enquire about costs if they think it will save them money. However, a site showing no price list must rely on its design and content to engage and persuade visitors to make that enquiry.

In the end, it boils down to a matter of preference and what works best for the site concerned and at the moment I’m not totally convinced that either option has the edge.

Until next time.

Back in March of this year I wrote about links and the importance of using different colours and underlining to make them highly visible especially when incorporated into a block of copy.

Signpost and Trail

It’s extremely frustrating when visited links don’t change colour after you’ve clicked on them, and that frustration is magnified on larger websites where it’s possible for visitors to get lost or repeatedly land on pages they’ve seen before.

Links should direct visitors effortlessly around a website rather like signposts but it’s equally important they also leave a trail so visitors know where they’ve been.

Round and Round

The fact is that website visitors expect to navigate a site quickly and easily and without having to think too much about it. They don’t want the hassle of having to remember which pages they’ve seen – the links should be doing that for them by changing colour when clicked on.

Quick Exit

The most damaging effect of course happens when visitors, especially to larger websites end up going around in circles and leave before or even during the buying process. Not only are they lost customers and therefore lost sales but they’re also highly unlikely to pay a repeat visit, or not for some considerable time at least.

Quick Fix

To some, links that don’t change colour may sound like a trivial matter and perhaps on smaller websites they may not be too much of an issue. However, it’s an easy thing to fix and something visitors would surely appreciate regardless of how large or small the site.  

Until next time.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the use of staff images on websites and questioned whether their inclusion made a difference to sales. I also mentioned that those companies who did employ staff images did so because they believe it helps in forging stronger business relationships. Today’s post concerns the effects of generic website images, or more specifically, whether they actually engage visitors or turn them off?

Wide Choice

There’s no doubt that stock images is big business and there’s certainly no shortage of companies supplying them as a look around the web will prove. However, with the millions of websites out there, visitors often come across images that appear to have no connection with the website’s products or services.

A View

Website consultant and analyst Jakob Nielson believes that website images should be visual information providers that tell visitors about products and services at a glance, not just pretty pictures to fill whitespace.

‘The commonality across all of these examples … is that users pay attention to information-carrying images that show content that’s relevant to the task at hand. And users ignore purely decorative images that don’t add real content to the page. So much fluff — of which there’s too much already on the Web’.

Whether he’s right or not is purely a matter of opinion, but if this is indeed the case and generic images actually do more harm than good – what’s the alternative?

Original Images

The obvious solution would be for web designers to create their own website images for each individual project; a good idea in principle but not without its drawbacks.

Web designers often work to tight schedules, so even assuming they had some photography skills and possessed a camera capable of taking high quality photos, finding the time to do so could prove extremely difficult.

In addition to tight schedules, designers often have to work to tight budgets, most of which would be highly unlikely to cover the fees of a professional photographer or even the cost of designers doing it themselves.

There are of course some companies who supply their web designers with their own images, something which is perhaps a good alternative as long as they are of a quality fit for a web page

However, the bottom line is that for the majority of cash-strapped businesses, especially new start-ups and SMEs, stock images are the only option, but I guess the secret of getting them to work well is to be extremely selective with the choice. Thoughts anyone?

Until next time.

Last week I wrote about what having a blog could mean to your business, and in this post I would like to briefly look at the SEO value of obtaining those all-important backlinks to your website.

Faster

It has to be said that although blogs tend to attain good rankings far quicker than most other types of site, they aren’t an instant solution. Visitors are becoming more discerning and most have high expectations of the blogs they follow and it’s ultimately they who decide whether your blog gets the thumbs up - or down.

The SEO benefits of backlinks shouldn’t be underestimated but to get them in any significant numbers you need to consistently provide good quality content which people will want to link to and share with others - and remember the power of social networking sites - many if not all your readers will be on Facebook and Twitter: extremely valuable coverage indeed.

Comments

It may come as a surprise to some that commenting on other blogs is also an excellent way to obtain backlinks because most blogs have an optional field where you can add your website address; something that could benefit you enormously if the blog in question has a large following.

A word of caution though; make sure you comment intelligently on any post; just writing ‘well done’ or ‘good post’ etc is likely to get your comment deleted or classed as spam, so if you’re serious about getting backlinks for your business website, don’t waste your chances.

Your Own Business Blog?

If you are considering a business blog, you should know that they have the potential to work wonders for your website’s SEO and ranking and consequently your business itself. However, as simple as they sometimes appear to be, blogs do require quite a bit of effort to make them work and finding the time to regularly add new and interesting content may be harder than first imagined especially when other more pressing business matters demand your attention, so some thought to posting schedule and perhaps contributions from guest bloggers would help no end.

Until next time.