Build Your Website Right - The First Time - alternativeSOHO

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Online, your website is your first impression. If you don’t have a properly crafted website tailored to your visitors’ needs, consider the fact that you may be losing those visitors.

When the time comes for you to build your website (or redesign your current one), make sure it is well suited for your visitors and conveys the right impression.

Plan your website first

Proper planning can pay dividends on the time it will save you in the end. Determine the focus of your website early in the planning stages.

Ask yourself whether your primary purpose is to get subscribers to an opt-in mailing list, do you want your customers to purchase your cogs, do you want to promote an affiliate opportunity, or is the primary purpose of your website the dissemination of information.

Ask yourself what type of funcationality your website will need to have such as fast loading pages, thumbnail images, an internal search engine, who is your target audience and what will they expect from your site. It’s also important to remember that not everyone will be using the same computer or browser that you are and your website may look different to them than it does for you.

Make sure your website is user-friendly even before you write one line of code

Draw up a few quick sketches and make notes on the features you plan to utilize in your website, such as colors, images, etc. and ask your friends, neighbors, or family to give you their input.

This information is quite valuable because they will give you an unbiased opinion of what your site needs to have, what it doesn’t need to have, and what the overall impressions will be. The best part of this is, the information you receive is free (or will possibly cost you a cup of coffee and some cookies).

Remember to ask the questions you will most need to focus on your site. For instance, if the goal of your site is to get opt-in subscribers to a mailing list, you may want to how likely they would be to subscribe if the link is at the top of the page or if a pop-up asked them to.

If your website spans the generational divide, be sure to get the input from people in each group. You may be surprised at how vastly different opinions can be based on age and life experience.

Once you’ve finished your preliminary user testing, it’s time to start getting down and dirty. Make your site accessible and welcoming from the beginning.

- Keep your navigation simple and intuitive. Don’t make your visitors have to guess what’s behind colored block #1 - mark it clearly.

- Keep your navigation short and concise. Too many choices may seem overwhelming.

- Link your masthead image (or logo) to the homepage and make sure it appears on every page.

- Stick to the 3 click rule. If your visitor cannot find what they are looking for in 3 clicks or less, they may become frustrated and leave.

- Use dynamic drop down lists carefully. If you have a list that automatically redirects to a different page once you select and item from the drop down menu, you are creating frustration. Imagine a user that does not have the use of a mouse or someone who accidentally selected the wrong item. This can be avoided by simply creating a “submit” or “go” button

- Client-side scripting/plug-ins (flash, javascript, quicktime, etc.) should be used with caution because not everyone has the proper elements installed. If you do feel a need to use javascript or flash for items such as navigation - make sure that a suitable alternative is provided for the people who do not have these features enabled.

- Customize your error pages (the most common is the ‘404 page not found’). Not only will you keep the visitor at your site, you will provide options to point them in the right direction.

Write copy for the layman, not the experts

Keep the jargon to a minimum and use layspeak (unless of course you’re publishing a technical journal). People will be more inclined to distrust your website and not respond very well if they cannot understand what you are saying.

Your writing should be warm and personal while maintaining professionalism. Make your visitors feel as if you are speaking directly to them. Break up the content and utilize whitespace. Huge chunks of information can seem quite daunting and most people will simply glaze over it. Be concise, cut the fluff and get to the point.

You want to make sure the writing style of your website actually matches the purpose of your website. If you are running a high profile law firm - you certainly wouldn’t say something like “get the scoop on your current case”. Vocabulary matters.

Copy is more than just words on the page, you must take into consideration the images, links, and the overall layout of each. Continuity is key. When your site has a central design element to refer to, it creates a feeling of organization and professionalism - even websites that seem choatic have a design reference.

Optimize for the search engines, write for the people

There is no magic number for the amount of keywords your website should have, but one way to make sure you aren’t overoptimizing your pages is simply to read the text out loud. If it sounds forced, it’s time to rewrite.

Don’t forget to use your headings - remember that people usually scan headings before they read the articles. Optimize your headlines with a few of your keywords while making sure to tell the visitor what’s actually in the article.

It’s hard to go wrong when you focus on the user first and not yourself. The rest will fall into place.