Effective Website Design

Clear And Effective Communication In Web Design (www.smashingmagazine.com)

Communication is one of the foundational elements of a good website. It is essential for a positive user experience and for a successful website that truly benefits its owners. All types of websites are affected by the need for good communication in one way or another...

...Text is, of course, the most obvious form of communication that takes place online.

...Images can often communicate a message faster, more clearly and more emphatically than text.

...Human nature is to want to know something quickly, and especially when on the Web. Titles and headers help to communicate major points and ideas to visitors, and they tell visitors what to expect from the rest of the content.

...Sometimes colors are chosen just based on what looks good, but other times the psychology of color comes into play

...One of the biggest challenges that designers have to overcome is simply deciding on the amount of content and information to use. Of course, having a lot of quality information is a good thing, but it can also get in the way and make it difficult to communicate clearly with visitors.

...When developing websites, one needs to keep in mind that each visitor is unique and that it is impossible to classify all of them in the same group.

...Because of the short amount of time that a new visitor is likely to spend on a website before leaving, there is a strong need for the website to quickly and clearly communicate.

...Because of the need for clarity and the benefits of communicating quickly, there are advantages to keeping messages as short and concise as possible.

...Depending on your type of website or the purpose of your communication, one of the biggest challenges may be simply gaining the trust of visitors.

...If visitors arrive at a website and cannot easily understand its purpose or what it offers them, they’re likely to move elsewhere.

... The most important message that must be communicated by every website is its purpose. ...As visitors arrive at the website, they should be able to quickly and accurately understand why the website exists and what is offered, and from this they should be able to determine if it is something that interests them.

...In addition to simply understanding the purpose of the website, visitors should also be able to quickly learn what the company or website offers them.

...is it clear what type of action they should take and how they can do so?

...The most important step to developing a website that features clear communication is prioritizing your messages and knowing exactly what should be communicated to visitors.

...By reducing the amount of information that is communicated, each message or piece of information will have more of an impact.

...The website should be designed and developed so that it can communicate specifically with these visitors [target audience and market].

...The most effective way to ensure that visitors receive the most important messages of a website is by making them nearly impossible to miss.

...Make everything count, or just get rid of it.

...One of the major goals of communication for website designers, developers and owners should be to present a clear message through the website.

...Particularly with websites, consistency must be addressed. While the website’s home page may do an effective job of clearly communicating with visitors, many visitors will be entering the website through other pages.

...In order for the website to maximize effectiveness, the communication must be relevant to the target audience of the website.

...Websites have all kinds of different goals; but regardless of what the specific goals of your website are, the website is more likely to achieve them with effective communication.

Wow, that's a lot and there's much more in that article. These are good points and nothing here isn't anything we haven't said to any particular client throughout our 8 year company history. A good thing to take away from this is that building a website isn't just slapping a logo on a page and adding text and pictures, it's:

• Market research
• Good web copywriting
• Design revisions
• Copy revisions
• Site map revisions
• Testing
• Coding / programming
• More testing
• SEO
• Post-launch analysis
• and so on

Think about all of this as you choose a website designer. They're not just designing, after all. You'll also need a good web host, good support / maintenance, continued help with SEO and online marketing / promotion, and a company that responds to you quickly and reliably. Time is money, after all.

-Tony

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