When it comes to your business website design, extra attention should be paid to every detail to assure that it performs well to serve its purpose. Here are five vitally important rules of thumb to observe to make sure that your website performs well.
1) Don’t even think about using splash pages
Always remember that we attract our site’s visitors for a specific purpose (or set of clear purposes), and we want nothing to stand in the way of achieving that goal as efficiently as possible. A splash page, which you probably have come across at some time, is a landing page that is no more than decoration. Usually, splash pages are meant to be visually attractive (in other words, “make a splash”). The only meaningful content they have is a phrase such as “click here to enter this site.” Why add the frustration of one additional click between your landing page and the desired outcome on the part of the site visitor?
2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements
Eye tracking studies indicate that, while such banners might distract visitors to a website, modern visitors are accomplished at not noticing the content that the banners contain. Unless your business plan is advertising, the last thing you want to do with your visitors’ time on your site is to direct their attention away from your content (and the action that the content is designed to achieve).
3) Don’t construct hurdles in navigating the website
Your navigation menu should mimic what your site visitors have used many times before. Make it evident that your links to other pages are just that; they should be like directional sign posts on a highway. If you insist upon an animated, dynamic menu or a multi-level dropdown, also provide a tradition, text-based static menu in one of the traditional menu locations, such as along the left panel of the site. Besides, the static menu will contribute toward your search engine optimization efforts.
4) Provide a clear indication of where the user is
If your site is well designed, users will easily flow from one page to another. However, along the way, they may feel like returning to a previously visited page to read it more carefully, to remind themselves of details or to compare one set of features to another. Provide a way for them to retrace their steps or to know how to get from “point g” back to “point c.” Using a breadcrumb trail serves this purpose very nicely.
5) Use audio only for clear purposes
If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they’re not annoyed by some sound looping on and on at your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure the visitors have some control over it — volume or muting controls would work fine.
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