Posts tagged website design
3 Facts of Life in Website Usability and What They Mean for SEO
Jan 18th
SEO is often talked about as the be-all and end-all of website success. While it is a huge and important part of the equation in determining which sites ‘make it’ in the long term, a number one Google ranking certainly isn’t a ticket to paradise! A common scenario is that a company invests all of their cash in getting to the top of Google, and ignores the quality of their website in the process. So when people click through to the site, they find something that looks pretty shonky, not like what they were expecting, or looks difficult to use … and they leave! Assuming you have a good website designer, one of the more common areas that sites fall down is in the usability. Today we are looking at 3 ultimate truths in the context of website usability, and what each of them means to your SEO efforts.
Truth #1: People scan, they don’t read
Unfortunately, most visitors to your site will read about 10% of the copy that is displayed to them carefully. They know that not everything will be important to them, so they don’t bother. Therefore, make it easy to scan for, and find, the same phrases on the page that people likely searched for to get to your site. Make your keywords prominent, in other words.
Truth #2: People don’t check all the options, they take the first good one
All this means is that if you have one important action that you want people to take on a page (‘Submit’, ‘Buy’, etc), make it the most obvious! Make anything that might help them achieve YOUR website goal in another way obvious also … things like navigation, related products, etc. This way your website can start paying you back, and investing in future internet marketing activities.
Truth #3: We LOVE trial and error
People never figure things out, and they rarely consult the help manual. They most often simply try things until something works. In order to ensure they can do what you want them to with a minimum of errors, get some expert help with website design and usability. And then forge ahead with your SEO campaigns with confidence that your visitors will be worthwhile!
The Things that Make us Think in Website Design
Jan 15th
One of the best known laws of marketing (including web marketing), is that people aren’t interested in you (despite the fact they clicked on your website) … they’re interested in what you can do for THEM.
Another of the most important rules of owning a website is that if you make people think, they will avoid coming back to you. “Argh, my prefrontal cortex!”, they’ll subconsciously scream 
. And in a jiffy, there goes all of the link building, content optimizing SEO effort you’ve put in to get your site to number one in Google in order to get clicks.
Riddip - I didn't want to think!
So, today we are looking at the common website design mistakes that make people think too much, and how you can get around … thereby staying focused on the REAL goal of your internet marketing, which is not to get visitors, but to use visitors to make money.
Thought-Inducer 1: Obscure Titles
When you design your website, use words that aim at the lowest common denominator. Try to let go of the urge to ‘corporatise’ your language. So:
- If you have a page full of jobs, put the word ‘Jobs’ on the button, not ‘Employment Opportunities’
- If you are selling movies on a page, use the word ‘Movies’ on the linking button or navigation, not ‘Digital Video Discs’
You get the idea! There is an example for every industry. Don’t be afraid of sounding ‘dumb’ – remember, people don’t care about you and your vocabulary, they care about themselves!
Thought Inducer 2: Link appearance
You need to make it obvious where you want a person to click on your page. The easiest way to call attention to a link is by using a coloured, beveled, shadowed button. Using a simple coloured square makes it look like a graphic, and using text devalues the importance of the link. Worst of all is not changing the color of your links from the ordinary text color … waaaay too much work!
Thought Inducer 3: Marketing jargon in links
Some common examples of this understandable (but deadly!) usability mistake include:
- ‘Quick Search’ instead of ‘Search’
- ‘Product Types’ instead of ‘Categories’
- ‘Assistance’ instead of ‘Help’
Use the same words everybody else does for standard pages – trying to set yourself apart here often drives your visitors away, and wastes all of those web marketing dollars!.
Web Designs at webmarketingexperts.com.au That Help Online Marketing
May 25th
When you are selling your products over the internet, it is good to consider the way you you would like to present the whole package to the users. An effective website design plays an integral part in attracting possible customers in order to generate income. Most often, online businesses get stuck. Maintaining an attractive website is not enough and would prove to not useful if it cannot be found once an online search is made. What you do not realize is that a website designer may be an expert when it comes to doing the visuals and create a lively site but may lack knowledge about online marketing.
Showcasing your website with images and flash gimmicks can attract attention but with the lack of useful web pages, still your site can end up stagnant. Before even starting to formulate ideas for your website, you must consider to address the needs of users first. A good website design results in an effective performance. The best thing to consider is to meet the basic requirements of a search-engine friendly website as well as a user-friendly one. Meeting user expectation is seen as an essential component if one has to direct traffic to a site and gain high search engine rankings.
When it comes to having an effective website design, the degree of consideration on the attractive design must be as valid as having useful and reliable information included in the content because this in the information that users receive. Having an honest review about your product and services is beneficial if you must capture the attention of possible customers. In order to be successful in doing online marketing, consider the basics of attraction marketing. There are plenty of useful techniques to draw user attention since people access the internet always but bear in mind to avoid using those that mislead users. Building trust with possible customers will reward your business in no time.