Today’s post is from guest author Curt Franke. Curt is Vice President of Business Development with BitWise Soultions.
My friends at Silver Square have asked me, Curt Franke of BitWise Solutions, to write a blog entry this week. (Yeah, it’s possible that their judgment was slightly impaired.)
If you know anything about BitWise Solutions, then you know that we develop complex web solutions – that means web sites and software applications meant to run on the web. So, I would just like to take this opportunity to share with you a few of my thoughts about getting a good web site design.
(In this case, when I’m referring to design, I’m not talking about the look and feel, because frankly it’s more art and preference and subtle psychology than what I am probably qualified to weigh in on. Although if you know me, you know that I have opinions.)
Number one key to getting a good web site design – find a good designer. (By the way, Silver Square does good great work.)
Besides that, here are nine more thoughts to help you get a good web site design:
- If you already have brand standards, (i.e. logo, colors, etc., and printed materials), be consistent with them on your web design. Why confuse a prospective client about whether they have come to your site?
- There are de facto standards for good web design. Don’t get cute, follow them. For example, clicking on the logo should return the visitor to the home page. Search boxes go near the top.
- Make it easy for your site visitors to contact you. Don’t make them dig for a phone number or some other way of reaching you. Put your contact information on the footer of each page and/or present a “Contact Us” page.
- Then there are the basics. Who are your target visitors and what specific action do you want them to take when they visit your site? What is the call to action for individual pages? Good web site developers will ask you these questions.
- Great web site developers* will ask you the questions that help to define the web site strategies that support your business goals and objectives. A web site that supports your business goals and objectives will ensure a good investment of your time and money. A good investment should anticipate a return on that investment. If not, it’s not an investment. It’s a donation.
- Be logical in the presentation of the content. Think through the groupings of the content so the site is intuitive. This is part of what great web site developers* do for you.
- What web site functionality will support your goals and objectives? For example, does there need to be a secure login for customers to be able to access your inventory and place orders online so that you can increase sales and customer satisfaction?
- Practically everyone wants some visibility with search engines. So, make sure to invest the time and effort to get the tags and content in place that will support the search terms for which you want to be found.
- Practically everyone wants to make changes to the content on the site themselves. So, get a good Content Management System (CMS). Get a demo of it first. You will be glad you did. Not all CMS’es are created equal.
I realize these are pretty basic elements. But heck, John Wooden taught his basket players at UCLA how to put their socks on. So, getting the basics right is a good first step.
May God bless you.
Curt
*BitWise Solutions = great web site developers, providers of complex web solutions, and good people
