So, you’re thinking of building a website, right. Perhaps you already have a website and you want to make some improvements. You should consider some very essential things before you go designing your website. Let’s discuss a few very important rules about designing a website that performs well.
1. DO NOT use splash pages!
A splash page is that first page, also called a landing page, that you see when you first load a website. They may contain just a logo, or a flash video, or perhaps just a picture with a link on it that says, ‘Enter’, or ‘Click Here to Enter’, or just ‘Welcome’. There is NOTHING on this page, NO CONTENT! As a visitor to your website, I’m inclined to hit the back button and return to my search criterion because I have preconceived ideas of what your website is all about. If I am on a dialup connection and I hit that slow-loading splash page, I’m going to bail out right away because I don’t have the time to wait for your page to load. DO NOT let your visitors have a reason to hit the back button! Create a landing page that offers purpose! Chuck the splash page!
2. DO NOT use excessive banner ads!
Across the Internet, you will find differing opinions about banner advertisements. These are those flashy colorful advertisements created to draw the eye and cause a visitor to click on it. First off, when you have a visitor on your site, you want to keep them there to learn more about your business. Remember, that each page of your website is valuable web real estate so be sparing with banner ads. Make your pages POP with YOUR content first! Then you can choose to weave RELEVANT affiliate ads throughout your content. Make your visitor feel welcome on your site instead of assaulting them with ads that may or may not have anything to do with your business.
3. Avoid using audio on your site!
Nothing is more annoying then to land on a web page that has blaring music set to loop forever while you are trying to read content. If you feel that your site MUST have audio embedded in your pages, make sure the user has some control over it. Allow them to adjust the volume or mute/stop the audio.
4. Avoid excessive pop-ups and pop-unders!
A pop-up is a browser window that appears out of nowhere, as you are viewing content on the web. A pop-under is similar to a pop-up except that it displays windows behind your web browser window. Both of these are annoying and intrusive.
There are three primary types of pop-ups:
- Those that appear when clicking something on a web page
- Those that appear at random
- Those that appear without user intervention, (This being the most aggravating variation)
There can be legitimate reasons to want pop-ups on your website. For example, you want to capture users for newsletters and you don’t want them to forget to sign up. Pop-ups can be useful…or should I say, the idea of capturing an audience for a newsletter can be useful. Current browsers now have pop-up blockers built into them. Most users turn the setting on in their browsers to BLOCK pop-ups, so putting pop-ups or pop-unders into your web pages will be hit or miss at best.
Instead of adding annoying pop-ups or pop-unders to your pages, use your web real estate carefully and place your signup forms or ads on the pages or create a page just for signing up. If you MUST have a pop-up or pop-under, DO NOT put it on your landing page!
5. Create simple and clear navigation!
Provide simple, clear, very straightforward navigation on your website. Make sure it makes sense! It is advisable to stay away from Flash based menus or complex multi-tiered dropdown menus. Sub menus must make sense too. Categorize sub menus under the correct main navigation button.
Also, as your visitors are reading and enjoying your website, make sure they know where they are on your website. You want your visitors’ to be able to browse all relevant information. If your navigation is confusing or simply doesn’t make sense, they will “bail out” and you will lose traffic!
