Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Avoid These Web Site Design And Writing Gaffles

Is your website doomed before it even gets off the ground?
A badly-designed website can turn off potential customers 
before they even think about buying your product. Here are
some website design mistakes that you should avoid.

1. Don't load your web site with a lot of high tech clutter.
As a rule, avoid using fancy animation or script code unless
it is absolutely necessary.. Those things only serve to 
distract from your sales message.

2. A website that loads slowly is just about the most annoying
thing on the Internet. Don't use large graphics or anything 
else that dramatically increases your site's load time.

3. Don't make the mistake that everyone will totally understand
your web site message. Use descriptive words and examples to
get your point across.

4. Don't write your strongest point or benefit only once. You 
should repeat it at least 3 times because some people may miss
it.

5. Don't push all your words together on your web site. People
like to skim; use plenty of headings and sub headings.

6. Stay focused. Don't use site content your target audience 
isn't interested in. If people are coming to your site to find 
info about fishing, then don't include soccer content.

7. Keep a unified theme. Don't use 50 different content formats
all over your web site. Use the same fonts, text sizes, text 
colors, etc.

8. Stick to the basics. Don't use words your web site visitors
might not understand. People are not going to stop and look in
a dictionary, they will just go to another site.

9. Don't let your selling words and phrases go unnoticed.
Highlight important words and phrases with color, bolding,
italics, underlining, etc.

10. Don't forget to use words that create emotion. All people
have emotions, people will have more interest when they are
emotionally attached.

11. Don't use unnecessary words or phrases on your site. You
only have so much time to get your visitor's attention and 
interest; so make ever word count.

12. Stay organized by avoiding the "cluttered" look. I see 
plenty of websites that have banners and graphics strewn all 
over the place with no rhyme or reason. These sites look awful
and , needless to say, I click away from them as quickly as 
possible.

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