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10 Tips For Building a Better Website

Ask yourself a few questions: What is the point of your site? What are your website's goals? The answers will help focus your website content and design.

Many people make the mistake of starting with web development software. This can actually slow down the site creation process as you link and un-link various pages while you build your site. Start by getting out several pieces of paper. Use them to layout your site. Put big block titles on each one such as “Home Page,” “Contact Us,” “Product Intro,” etc. This will help you to arrange your pages and identify resources and images you might need. You can write ideas for the pages right on the paper. That way when you start putting the actual site together you can move much more quickly.

Another tip is to spend a little time thinking about the titles and headers you’re using to make sure people who read them can relate. A common mistake is to use product names as titles. Instead, title the section with a product benefit. For example, “Get Refunds Fast” is a much better title than “Tax preparation service.”

Who are you and who is your audience? Targeting the visitor you want to attract will help you create a message that appeals to them. Remember that in most cases YOU ARE NOT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. CPAs rarely buy accounting services from other CPAs. Designers don’t usually hire designers. You should design your site to appeal to a specific customer group.

Think of your favorite customer and the way they describe your business. What is important to them? That’s the language and emphasis you want to have in your website development. Write down a few characteristics of your typical customer. Don’t be afraid to use words like, “young,” “old,” “rich,” “poor.” You’re the only person who is going to see this and the more descriptive you are the better the image will be that you can create in identifying your target customer. Once you’ve completed this step it will be much easier to make sure your site is appealing to people who may actually buy your product or service.

Ensure that your site loads quickly for your target users. Believe it or not, as many as 40% of Internet users still use Dialup access. Think about your target market and decide if your typical customer is more likely to be on dialup or high speed Internet. If so, avoid heavy graphics wherever possible.

There are several tools you can use to optimize your graphics before you put them on your site. If you are using Frontpage as a site creation tool, always paste in graphics as “pictures” as this is a much more efficient format then “Drawing Objects.” GIFs, Jpegs, and other internet format images can also be optimized for faster loading. As a rule of thumb, if a site takes longer then a couple of seconds to load on your MAC or PC, it will take way too long to load on dialup.

Another tip is to use the software that came with your Digital camera to reduce the pixel count before you paste your pictures on your site. Remember that a computer monitor has a MUCH lower resolution than a printed picture. By reducing the size of your pictures, you can put more on a single page without worrying about bogging down the site.

Think of your website as a newspaper: important elements should be at the top, or "above the fold," as newspaper folks say. Viewers read top to bottom, left to right, and always look at the upper-left corner first. Plan your design accordingly.

Many people make the mistake of telling people every last detail about their products before they ask for the sale. (This is true whether you are talking to someone in a showroom or selling online). Most customers really only need or want to know the bare minimum. Make sure that on your website the call to action is “above the fold.” That way a customer won’t become discouraged if they don’t want to know the last detail.

HINT: “The Fold” on a website is where a page falls below the boundaries of a typical monitor. If you go to a website you like, take note of the page layout and the way the web master has prioritized the content. This will help you to understand how to set up your own pages.

A few colors can go a long way, so use a limited color palette. Don't pick in terms of your favorites; choose colors that support your message and tell your story.

Again, think in terms of your target market. Pick colors that you believe will appeal to them. Darker colors may look nice in concept, but they can make the site heavy and this can reduce effectiveness. Try to keep your content section (the section of the page where you talk about products, services, etc) as light as possible. This way graphics and pictures will stand out on the page and you won’t need to worry as much about clashing colors.

Your website font should sit comfortably on the background color. The bigger the font type, and the wider the columns of text, the easier it is to read.

Use short sentences and short paragraphs. Look at a Newspaper. Take a moment and look at the way they lay out text. Newspapers are designed for quick readability. Your website should employ the same concepts. Think “KISS” – Keep it Short and Simple.” Many “paragraphs” will have less then three sentences. Sentences themselves will have less than 10 words. Writing this way is difficult, but your audience is much more likely to read what you’ve written.

It doesn't need to be white, but your page should have plenty of blank space to help readers' eyes find what's important. White space keeps your design simple and clean, so readers will focus on your message.

The best websites are designed without clutter. Cluttered pages load slowly and make it very difficult to find what is important. Also, never let more then 1/3 of the page fall below the fold. People browsing online are very impatient. If your site is too cluttered or you put too much on any single page, people will leave and shop elsewhere.

Backgrounds, buttons, arrows and photography can spice up content, and assist visitors in finding their way around. Always use them near call to action buttons such as “Buy Now” or “Sign Up Here.” Keep your graphics simple so they’re not distracting.

Advertising agencies have long known that people read a page in a certain order. They can create graphics and titles to get people to read in any order they want. Pick up a magazine and flip to an advertisement. Read through the ad. Notice the order your eyes track through the various elements. In most cases, the “payoff,” or primary message, will be “second read.” (What you read second.) Third read is generally any accompanying detail the designer/marketer thinks you might want to know. Anything past “Third Read” is considered “Throw Away.” Now, go to a website you like and do the same thing. Notice the way your eyes are drawn through the pages and then notice the way graphics are employed to draw your eyes.

HINT: Remember that graphics can be “heavy” and slow down site load times. Keep your graphics “tight” and “clean” so the site can continue to perform.

Content is the most important website element. People are most likely to bookmark, revisit, and recommend your site if the content is rich and helps them efficiently find the information they need.

Remember that your website is a living thing. It is never really done growing and changing as your site remains online. That said, many people make the mistake of spending hours and hours on page layout, graphics and development and then throw together some writing to fill in the pages. Remember that visitors to your site are there to read the content. While they may notice the graphics, what they’re really interested in is what you have to say. So follow these two rules: One, spend as much time on the content as you do on the other site elements. Two: Make a point of visiting at least one page or section of your website every week, print it out, make a few notes, and update it. That way your site will never get stale!

Keep it simple, keep it smart. Don’t get discouraged if your site is not perfect. Remember that if you follow these few, simple rules you can put together a terrific looking and content rich site. The more you work on it over time, the better it will get. The worst thing to do is to stop trying.