The massive growth of the internet has spawned huge growth in another industry – that of web design. There are many, many people calling themselves website designers – yet a huge proportion of those don’t know even the basics about how to design websites that WORK!. A fancy-looking looking website with all the bells and whistles may look impressive – but looks don’t count for anything if the website doesn’t actually get users to ‘stay, play and pay’.
According to studies, site visitors only wait around four seconds for a page to start loading – and around 20 seconds to download a full page. In cybertime, 20 seconds is an eternity – and even if the website looks amazing with flashy video, animations and graphics, if it takes ages to download, the audience will be long gone. Once a user has lost interest in your site, they’re unlikely to return.
When people are trawling the net, they aren’t looking for a book to read either. They don’t want to read to the end for the conclusion – they want the important information and they want it NOW!. Research shows that users just skim over websites. One of the keys of good website design is to have information that is highly visible, easy to access and a website that is easy, quick and logical to navigate. Links should also be clearly identifiable and placed where they are easily accessible – users don’t want to have to spend ages scrolling around for links.
A good web designer designs websites with a ‘sixth sense’, ie intuitive websites that seem to anticipate what the user wants.
First impressions are also vital. Researches found that people take as little as a twentieth of a second to form a judgement. If potential customers don’t immediately like what they see, they’ll be gone in the blink of an eye (literally!). Studies also show that first impressions stick – and aren’t easy to undo or change.
Another aspect of website design that is under-rated is search engine optimisation (SEO). It’s a constantly evolving area and people have to keep abreast of new developments in order to keep their websites at the top of the rankings. SEO involves careful placement of well-researched keywords (around 8 – 12) throughout the pages of the website. A keyword is the phrase or words that someone would type into the search engine (eg yahoo or Google), for example ‘online florist’ or ‘e-commerce in Perth’. Expert web designers will offer proven SEO strategies that guarantee to improve a website’s rankings in the search engines.
Dale Carter, an experienced Perth website developer, says good web design isn’t just about good looks. Good web design is an understanding of what customers want and need, and generating a good return on investment using tried and tested web design principles and strategies.
2. Right-Click then Copy
3. Paste the HTML code into your webpage
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Tags: Perth SEO, Perth web site design, Perth website design, website design
