The Book is Judged by Its Cover

I recently spoke with a client who was searching for potential venues for a wedding. She said that she was choosing companies to contact based on the quality of their website.

I have heard similar comments from others on numerous occasions, and find that I make decisions in the same way. Of course, the quality of a website doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the size, quality, or professionalism of a company. But in today’s market it is perceived to be one of the most important aspects in communicating that a company is in fact strong and professional.

The reason is that over 80% of the people searching for any service or product are now using the web. We have trained ourselves to judge a business by the quality of what we see first- which in most cases is the website.

This being said a company can actually create a perception of a large, successful and professional business by setting up a website that presents those attributes.

Because everyone has different tastes, your website may not please every person, every time. But there are certain standards to keep in mind, which will allow you to create a positive perception and avoid a negative one.

1. Avoid too much flash on your website- A flash photo slideshow, if done well, can enhance the appearance of your website; too much flash animation can be a distraction.
2. Remember white space- Try to avoid too much color. It’s best to have your primary text over a white background. Also avoid too much color in your fonts-stick with a black font with a single color for headline text. White looks clean; too much color can be a distraction.
3. Avoid the build-your-own website programs- You get what you pay. The cheap or free website programs usually result in cheap-looking website. Because these programs expect non-designers to design a website, they end up looking home-built rather than professional.
4. Use a Central Navigation System- Try to avoid multiple navigation systems or menus on your website. A single, strategically placed menu that is located on the same place on every page is very important. There is nothing more frustrating than getting lost in a website trying to find a page you were at previously. If you have a lot of pages use a drop down menu.
5. Avoid using too much text on your website- Your website is not a salesperson and is not designed to sell your service. Many people try to give as much information as possible about their service or product. Unless you have an e-commerce site, your website should focus on providing just enough information to get someone to contact you. The attention span of the average user is extremely short and in many cases if you have a lot of text they probably won’t read any of it.
6. Incorporate an educational portal- Keeping the information limited is very important for the majority of the site- but some people will visit your website for information and in many cases the people that re-visit your site will come back for new information. Designate one area on your site for information such as articles, white papers, etc… A blog is a great place to archive this information. The search engines also appreciate a site with a lot of information that gets updated regularly.
7. A picture is worth 1000 words- Each picture that you put on your site will speak volumes about the web page it’s on. Try to use professional images whenever possible. Stock images can be a great substitute and can be very inexpensive (check out www.istockphoto.com). Like text, pictures should be used sparingly- a good rule of thumb is one picture per page unless it’s a photo gallery or bio page.
8. Consider a copywriter- The quality of your text is as important as the quantity. To cut costs, you can write the content and hire a copywriter to review and edit that content. At the very least get a copywriter to review the text on your home page.
9. Prominent Contact Page- As was mentioned, the primary goal for most websites is to get someone to contact you. It’s surprising to see how many websites that don’t have contact pages placed on their main menus. On your contact page make it as easy as possible for people to contact you by using a contact submission form.
10. Professional Logo- On many websites the weak link is the logo. Don’t cut corners with the logo, but do keep the logo very simple. Think about how simple the logos are for most large corporations. Consider a stylized text logo with a very simple image that integrates well with the text. Tie your primary colors into the logo and match the colors of your website with those on your logo.

Your website is the first thing that most of your prospective clients will see, so it’s crucial to put your best foot forward. You may have to invest significant time, money and resources to drive traffic to your website- so take full advantage of every visit!

Mikel Bruce
Tinyfrog Technologies

San Diego Web Design

www.tinyfrog.com

2 Responses to “The Book is Judged by Its Cover”

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   March 4, 2010 at 4:49 am

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