Have little Jimmy do the site. He knows about that computer stuff."
Face it, the thought of having your 15 year old nephew design your business
website is pretty appealing. After all, he'll do it in exchange for some loose
change. What could be better? You should be asking: "What could be
worse?". Little Jimmy may know a lot about computers - but he may not
have a lot of experience creating professional looking, usable sites. Little
Jimmy may be really cheap to hire - but the damage done to your business by
having an amateurish looking site is worse than having no site at all. This
may lead you to think : "Let's hire the most expensive web designer in
town!", which leads us to another fallacy.
Hire the largest, most expensive web design company available?
Good web design does not have to break the bank. Nor does it have to come from
the biggest, most expensive Web developer around. Big web design companies may
specialize in flashy websites with animations, java applets, ecommerce systems
- when all you want is a simple site to help you advertise your products or
services, and communicate better with your customers. Bigger is not always
better.
Never
assume that a good site cannot be a
simple one.
Some web design companies will try to sell you the most elaborate scheme they
can dream up. Flashing banners, wild pop-ups, chiming flash animations, and
maybe even dancing reindeer (the holiday season will be upon us soon ).
Website visitors are inundated by banner ads, and shopping promotions on most
websites. If they see your website as a big slow, flashing ad banner, they
will simply walk away. If you have ever used Google, you would have noticed
how simple, yet useful its website is. To create a compelling, useful website,
you don't need tons of graphics, rounded borders, and flashing animation. What
you do need is good, relevant, and timely content - which tells visitors about
what your business has to offer. Just say no to bloated web design! Avoid lots of flash animations with
sound, especially as a "website intro", like the plague.
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You
may have been told it is a great idea to present a loud, bright and
blinking animation with your firm's best selling points and stated strategy on
your website's front page. Your website visitors will most likely react very
differently - usually by clicking the "Back" button as soon as
possible. Visitors are often annoyed by animations which are loud, and take
forever to show up. Avoid animations on the front page. You can still emphasize
certain topics or pages by giving them more prominent placing on your page,
instead of inserting an animation which will just drive people away.
It's
important to make sure contact or business information
is prominently displayed.
One the first uses of the Internet was efficient communication through email. Your
website offers you another way to connect with potential customers;
an email link or a web-to-email contact form are both useful webpage items. If
you hide contact information away in small, dark corner of your website, you
will be depriving yourself of contact with potential customers. You shouldn't be
afraid to say who you are, and how people can get in touch with you.
Don't believe anyone who offers
you "guaranteed placement" in search engines listings: there is no such thing. Search engines change the ranking (relative
importance) of the pages in their indexes often, and your site's ranking could
fluctuate over time. The safest way to achieve a high ranking in search
engines is to have current, accurate and relevant content. And
simple website design, whose content is easily accessible to both humans and
search engines, does not hurt either.
There
are no
fly-by-night
solutions here.
We will work with you to make a usable, attractive, reliable
website which accurately reflects your company's vision.
Complex problems do not always need complex solutions. Let us talk to you about
creating a web presence for your business. You can call us at any time
at 01493 377791/07956 908 166. Or if you prefer, send us a quick note
on the 'Welcome' tab
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