Priorities of professional
web design!
Getting Visitors
The most important factor in web design is to do with how well the website acquires visitors. The design of your website is fundamental to it bringing in visitors. It matters very little how fantastic your site looks or how incredibly well it gets your message across if people don't visit.
The way most people find websites is with a search engine such as Google. You need your website to be visible on the first page of Google's search results whenever keywords directly relevant to your business are used in a search. If your website appears in Google's top ten for words relevant to your business, your website is within the easy clicking of potential customers.
All Premium Gold websites appear in Google's top ten for relevant keywords! Results for one of them: amptek.com.au, are shown above.
Good web design relates very importantly to a website's position in the search results. This is called search engine optimisation or SEO. This means paying critical attention to the content and form of a website and designing around sound keyword and key-phrase research. It is surprising to learn that many web designers don't even understand SEO or don't care.
It is possible to receive visitors from sources other than search engines, such as through the display of your web address in advertisements in the printed media and on signs etc but this is usually expensive and it is a less easy and less immediate way for people to actually visit your site.
Your website's position in search engine results therefore neeeds to be the number one priority in web design.
Pleasing Visitors
The graphic design of your site is important for creating a positive first impression to your visitors. Your site should look the part. It should communicate at first glance that the visitor has come to the right place, i.e. the website clearly relates to the products the visitor wants to buy. The site should look professional and appropriate to customer expectations.
Sales Copy
Textual information on the page needs to communicate why a visitor should buy products and/or services from you rather than from anyone else. You also want to compel visitors to take action by contacting you by phone or email or placing an order. Good web design incorporates good sales copy.
Useability
It should be easy for visitors to navigate between pages to find the information they require. A site that adheres to conventional navigation menus will generally have greater useability than one that employs an unusual messy non-intuitive system. Each page on the website should load quickly into the browser. If pages load slowly, the visitor may decide to leave before they've had a chance to find out what your website contains. Large images or embedded Flash/movie content can take a long time to load which could create negative associations with your site so it is often best to use these sparingly if at all.
All Together
In the process of web design, all the elements need to be put into the melting pot for the website to be developed appropriately. Careful attention needs to ensure the correct mix. Going overboard with graphical imagery could mean the search engines won't gain a good understanding of what your website is about. It's important to note that good web design ensures search engines are able to find plenty of relevant text on your web pages.
Web Design Done Right For You
Having web design that's done right can be extremely affordable particularly if your business is based in Wollongong. For example, all TheGong.com.au Premium Gold websites are designed according to the principles of good web design outlined above and this is reflected in their success in Google's results and in the satisfaction of their owners. To obtain an affordable yet successful website, please see Premium Gold Websites for further details or simply call Steve Perrett on 02 4227 6630.