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 Content
Provide your visitors
with content that leads to your
Most Desired Response, MDR. Think of your website as a one to one
sales presentation. Imagine yourself sitting down in the same room
discussing how your product or service can fill your customers wants and
desires. Use words that elicits emotion or the feeling
that your product or service will provide the visitor. This should be the message that shouts from the
website.
Details and facts are fine but they do not elicit a
emotion or desire to purchase the product in most cases. Your
strongest selling points should be on the first page your viewer
sees. You don't want visitors having to click to find out why this
is so important. Direct your total message to
reflect what you want the visitor to do. Content,
content, content, is the most important part of a website. Give the
viewer something for their time. Many sites have cool graphics but
not much else and other sites have many links but very little original
content. Stress the visitor's benefits that your product or service will
provide.
Organization
Organize your content in a simple straight forward manner. Is your
page focused? Start by writing an outline of your content. Put
the most important items near the top. Write your copy once,
eliminate half the words and write it again. Organize your
information in a manner that is quickly scanned. Make use of
headlines or lists to summarize topics. Use bold and/or color for
headlines or topic headings.
Design
Effective design or web page layout can be summed up in three words,
simplicity, readability, and consistency. More
is not necessarily better when it comes to web page design. Keep
your fonts and color choices down to two fonts and two main colors.
Avoid blinking or distracting graphics or color combinations. Make
use of white or empty areas, the goal is not to fill every nook and cranny
with info or graphics. Use the KISS principle, (Keep It Simple
Stupid).
If visitors come to your site and can't read the text you've lost that
visitor. Make sure the fonts and the background you use are legible.
A decorative script font may be aesthetically pleasing but very difficult
to read. Stick to the basic Times, veranda, or default fonts.
Choose colors for your text and background that contrast in a pleasing
way. Stick with short sentences and paragraphs.
Your website should be
consistent from page to page so visitors know they are still within your
site. Always use the same fonts and colors throughout your site.
Use the same header graphic or navigation bar on all pages. This is
easily accomplished by copying your main page, open a new page, paste, and
then delete the main page text.
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