Learn from the Masters (of Web Design) If you've ever been to the Louvre, you know it'schock full of art students, who spend hours in themuseum with their sketchpads, copying the works ofthe Masters. Poets do it too; that's why English majorsspend hours doing "close readings" of Shakespeare ... Web Design The 10 Biggest Mistakes There are plenty of mistakes in the world of web design. Let's look at what I believe to be the 10 biggest. 1. Too Many Ads. When you're trying to make money from your website, it's all too easy to overwhelm your site with ads. Put yourself in your ... Web Site Design These days if you are in business and don't have a website you are missing out on an abundance of customers. Everyone that has a computer in their house will be using one of the search engines (google, Yahoo, Msn etc.) to look for your business. There are ...
4 Huge Web Design Errors That Are Costing You Business Online
Business people: the point of your website is to get business, make money.
Is your faulty web design sabotaging these crucial objectives?
Let's take a quick look at what a profitable website MUST contain. Then compare this to what you've actually got.
#1: Your website must focus on capturing email addresses
Most people don't buy the first time they learn about something, even something they like. That's why the #1 objective of your website MUST be to capture the all-important prospect email address.
When you've got this information, you've got what you need to follow-up, stay in touch, and keep building your relationship with this prospect, so you get the sale.
Because this objective is soooo important you should make it important with flash design. For an example, click here http://www.internetmarketbiz.com This smart owner is building his all-important email list by making the acquisition of prospect email his #1 priority using eye-popping flash! Or visit this incredible illustration of how to capture e-mail details using flash: http://www.dreamcruises4u.com/
#2 Stuffing your home page with way too much information
The objective of your home page should be to channel people to where you want them to go. Unfortunately, the amateur web designer who thinks "more is better" overloads the home page, reasoning that the prospect will take her time to read through everything until she finds what she wants. Unfortunately, this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how people use the net.
What people want is a site that immediately directs them to what they're looking for. They don't want to wade through an extra word -- not even one. They want quickly to know what you've got and what they have to do to get it. Your home page, therefore, should provide a series of easy directional signals. For an example, visit http://www.worldprofit.com This is a multi-million dollar company, but look how few words they use to capture the visitor's attention and direct him. A prospect visiting this site wastes no time!
#3 Loading the site with slow-loading graphics
The Internet is about getting information fast. When you slow down the process, you sabotage your own marketing. One of the ways people slow it down is by loading their website with slow-loading graphics. Every second your prospect has to wait his impatience and frustration build... and that is NEVER good for business.
Use graphics by all means but use graphics which are fast loading and which highlight, emphasize and reinforce your client-centered message. Again, look at the simple, fast-loading graphics at http://www.worldprofit.com
#4 No attempt to discern what the prospect wants
Most websites are about the owners of those sites. They are egotistical, making the prospect work to discover what that owner has that will benefit him. The extent to which you make it difficult for the prospect to know what you've got and how she'll be better off using what you're selling is the extent to which you're killing your sales.
Instead, you should take every opportunity to ascertain just what the prospect wants. How can you find out? Use a questionnaire like the one you'll find at http://www.homebizedge.com A questionnaire like this gives the prospect the opportunity to tell you what she wants, so that you can respond with just the appropriate information.
Web Design Firms - 31 New Listings (About.com) Here are some of the most recent Web Design Firm listings submitted by fellow designers. Not as many as last time, but some of these are really interesting. Submit Your Web...
How to Build a Small-Business Web Site, Part 3: Advanced Design (TechNewsWorld.com) Anyone who's tried designing a Web site or working with a designer knows that the job inevitably turns out bigger and more complicated than expected. Some have created a graphically rich thing of beauty only to discover that half the users visiting the site are frustrated by slow wait times. Links or downloads may not work quite the way they should.
