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KrystalRose's Ten Commandments of Good Web Design
1 - Thou Shalt Not Make Thy Customers Wait for Thy Page to Download
Graphics and animations, properly used, can set the tone for your Web site and let customers know right away what to expect from your business. But images that take too long to load or which do not provide any information may actually make your customers look elsewhere. The average web surfer has an attention span of approximately seven seconds - if they don't see some information quickly, all the nifty effects in the world won't keep them on your page.
So do you have to give up pictures and special effects? No!
At KrystalRose Designs we have a big bag full of
tricks to help your pages load quickly and still look great.
2- Thou Shalt Not Tell Thy Customers Which Web Browser to Use
"Best Viewed With *Insert Browser Name Here*" is not only free
advertising for a certain company, it is also unfair to the millions of users who are
using some other browser. It's also a good way to lose a potential customer,
because nobody in history has ever gone and downloaded *that
other browser* just because some Web site they happened upon only worked
in that other browser. They merely went to a different site
that already worked with their current browser!
At KrystalRose Designs we know how to design
your web site so that it will look good in ALL web browsers (and believe
us, there are a LOT of them out there!)
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3 - Thou Shalt Not Make Thy Customers Download Anything in order
to View Thy Site
This commandment is similar to the first. Flash splash-pages, background music, Java effects, Active-X and -- the newest contender in the "How to Really Irk your Customers" arena, the massive PDF hidden behind an innocent-looking hyperlink -- require your customer to keep a growing arsenal of browser plug-ins up to date. You've experienced it yourself: you visit a Web site looking for information, and instead of being able to view the information, you are told that you must first visit the Web site of a plug-in purveyor in order to update some gizmo or other.
This is not merely annoying. The worst part is: if your customers do decide to go off and W醾繁繂꾘Rd the required update, they just might not come back. Plug-in sites are loaded with advertisements and other distractions, and many people forget all about the site they were originally looking at when they went away to download. Don't deliberately send your customers away!
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4 - Thy Site Shall be Easy to Navigate
Be sure your visitors can get from one page to another of your site with ease, and can tell where they are in the grand scheme of your Web site. Organize links and buttons in a logical flow that helps them find their way back to where they were. Avoid clever navigation schemes that make your programmer look good but send your customers through several false starts before they figure out how to find what they are looking for. They won't bother!
And, never assume a surfer can just use the browser's "back" button to get back to your main page. Often, visitors will have stumbled upon a sub-page of your site via a search engine, rather than through the link you intended. Always provide a highly visible link to your Home page on every single page in your site.
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5 - Thou Shalt Provide Information!
It can't be said enough, yet web designers consistently forget: It's The Content That Counts!
Some people surf the web looking for entertainment, and it's fine to provide a little of this, but if you are trying to sell a product or service, you must get your information to the customer within the first few seconds of their arrival on your site, or you are likely to lose them. Don't force your customers to sift through "enter here" links and splash pages full of graphics in order to find your content - they won't!
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6 - Thou Shalt be Printer Friendly
Yes, even in this age of technology, some people still love paper. If, for instance, a marketing associate wants to present your services to the board for further consideration, he or she will likely want to print out a "dead tree edition" of your Web page to hand out at the meeting. This is why it's a good idea to have your URL and e-mail address spelled out in black and white somewhere on every page, not merely linked to an image or some other text.
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7 - Thou Shalt Not Annoy Nor Distract, nor Otherwise Cause Eyestrain
to Thy Customers
Blinking, flashing, and otherwise frenetic graphics and "banner ads" are thought by those who purvey them to give viewers a sense of urgency and excitement which will incite them to send you money. The truth, however, is that this kind of tactic is more likely to remind your visitors of the screaming and waving used-car salesman on late night TV.
In addition, studies have shown that Web surfers have learned to automatically "block out" anything displayed in a rectangle at the top of a Web page. Therefore if you have something important to say, try to avoid putting it in a rectangle at the top of any page, and most of all, do not waste your advertising dollars on "banner-exchange" programs.
Making your information easy to find, both on your site and on the Web itself with proper use of Meta tags, bringing your ad copy alive with professional copy editing, and making your Web site user-friendly, will all be much more effective in attracting and keeping good customers.
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8 - Thou Shalt Keep Thy Information Up to Date
Web users have become accustomed to expecting current and accurate information on the Internet. It is no longer enough to simply plop a site onto the Web and forget about it. If a customer finds outdated information or broken links on your site, it will ruin your credibility with them. Moreover, inaccurate inventory or pricing information on a Web site could leave you open to liability.
It is well worth the expense to make arrangements to have your content checked for accuracy and updated on a regular basis.
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9 - Thou Shalt Not Annoy Nor Distract, nor Otherwise Cause Eyestrain
to Thy Customers - Part Two
What could be even more obnoxious than blinking and flashing banner ads? If you've used the Web in the last five years, you know that Internet marketing culture has learned to abuse a much more annoying "feature" with which to torture your potential customers: the ubiquitous Pop Up Window!
Pop Up Windows do nothing but annoy web surfers. Every merchant has, of course, a right to advertise, but irking your potential customers does not make them want to purchase anything from you. In fact, many people actively refuse to buy anything from any company that assaults web surfers with pop-ups. In addition, more and more special applications are being developed every day that block pop-ups from ever appearing. Therefore if you have something important to say, it is far better to place it in the body of your Web page.
Making your information easy to find, both on your site and on the Web itself with proper use of Meta tags, bringing your ad copy alive with professional copy editing, and making your Web site user-friendly, will all be much more effective in attracting and keeping good customers.
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10 - Thou Shalt Be Compassionate on Thy Fellow Humans Who Have Physical
Limitations or whose Access is Otherwise not as Fortunate as Thy Own
Accessible design is the crux of KrystalRose's
entire design philosophy. Despite what *certain browser companies*
say, it is NOT just as simple, for some people, as downloading *insert
that browser name here.* Some people surf the web from public
libraries, some people's computers are not capable of supporting the most
modern, resource demanding browsers, and some people have physical disabilities
which require them to use special browsers that help compensate for their
challenges.
Some people may not have *insert that browser name here,* but
you can bet they have money to spend, and will spend it elsewhere if some
other site is more accessible to them! At KrystalRose
Designs we know how to make your Web site accessible to all web browsers
and web surfers. Contact
us for more information!
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Here are a few links to other "Ten Commandments" sites across the
web - some are humorous, but all give a good idea of what your customers do and
do not appreciate when web surfing.
New: KrystalRose Designs Top Ten Ways to Totally Irk Web Surfers, a helpful alternative approach to Good Web Design!
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