Overview | Download Speed | Web Page graphics | Search Engine Optimization | Scanning and Skimming
Text Copy | Navigation | Frames | Scripts
Overview:
A typical web search begins by opening your web browser, then connecting online to a Search Engine and typing in a search phrase. Then clicking on a search result link, viewing the page, and deciding whether or not it's worth investigating further. If not, click back and go on to the next link in the search results.
Obviously then, what matters is the initial impression of the web site relative to the other available choices in the search results. If the visitor clicks back, no other pages on your site are viewed and you have lost a potential sale.
To capture the interest of the visitor within the first eleven seconds is the first task of the web designer.
After that is achieved, you will try to qualify the visitor by laying out options for him/her to follow which you hope will logically lead to a sale. Options are important because you do not know if the visitor is looking for a specific product or general information regarding a category of such products before deciding upon a particular choice. The web site has to be designed to allow for the first visitor to go directly to the specific product and for the second visitor to want to dig deeper into a line of your products that may meet his/her needs until a final choice is made. This is the function of site navigation. It has to be easy to use so the visitor/prospect will not leave your site out of frustration. Navigation is the second task of the web designer.
Now that you have captured the interest of the visitor and laid out options for him to follow, you must maintain that interest as you present your products in a convenient and logical manner. This requires the creation of an effective balance between elegance and functionality. Data must be presented via an interface that is complementary to the overall appeal of the web site and employs the simplest route of access. Each web page along the way must contain its own message, which should not be overwhelmed by an over abundance of artistic embellishments. The web designer must also be constantly mindful that at the appropriate time the visitor/prospect should be coaxed into action. After all, that is the underlying purpose of a commercial web site. In short, this is the application of AIDA, a popular sales acronym for Attention-Interest-Decision-Action, which is equally valid online.
The world of the web designer is an ever-changing world. A week on the web is like a year in real life. Issues gain prominence and fade into insignificance as the web matures at an incredible rate. What was an important consideration yesterday may become irrelevant tomorrow. This is especially true on the technical side, where new technologies and innovative software are percolating every day. Two prime examples are 1) the growing shift from dial-up to broadband Internet connections, which allow for much quicker download of web page elements; and 2) the continuous evolution of search engine algorithms that determine how your web site will rank in web search results. The webmaster should keep abreast of such new developments in technology that will impact his design of an effective web site and adapt to them accordingly.
OK, enough generalities, let's go into some details
HERE.
