Web designers are not marketers
Some web designers specialize in designs, while some simply do coding or programming, and some do both. My favourite site was created by a programmer working with a designer. The design and aesthetic elements were created by the designer while the programmer made sure everything functioned properly.
A site should have:
1. Clarity. A simple, clean and easy to understand website is attractive. Fonts that are too small and light is an assault to the eye. A busy website with all kinds of distractions makes it difficult for people to decide what to do.
2. Accessibility. Your site might look good with Internet Explorer but it might not show well on Firefox. Your site should read well on all browsers. Download time is also a factor and sites made of flash takes longer to load.
Now what if your potential customer doesn’t know the exact address to your website, how will he or she search for and arrive at your website without that information? The answer to this is “keywords”. People use words or sets of words to search or “google” for something. Determining and incorporating keywords relevant to your site will help your site to be on google and other search engines. But some keywords are competitive, meaning it is being used by so many other websites, so simply using it is not going to help. That’s when you need a search engine optimizer (SEO) or a specialist who can help your website improve its rankings on search engines. Be careful when people say they know SEO. Search for their products and/or services online (not their website address or business name) and see if they come up. For example, if they are in Car Advertising – then they should come up when you type Car Advertising on google.
3. Good Fresh Content. Some sites are so stale it looks like it was done by a neighbour’s kid back in the 90’s. Every site needs a face lift once in a while to stay up to date.
More importantly, the content should be current. It’s been said that “content is king”. The most amazing site that catches people’s attention will lose its potential customers if it doesn’t have good contents to keep them interested. Having a blog (where you regularly write updates) incorporated on your site will keep it fresh and your customers will keep coming back for more.
4. Easy Navigation and Flow. Have you ever been to a site where you got lost and don’t know how to get back to the “homepage”? Part of an easy to navigate website includes having the key links to other pages of your site kept under the fold (right under your header).
5. Widgets. Widgets are what keeps your site interactive and allow your customer to come back for more until they decide to buy.
