I’ve seen some pretty awful websites. Color combinations that made the text impossible to read. Navigation buttons that change from page to page. Pages that start talking or play music as soon as you open them (with no way to adjust the volume or turn it off!). Distracting flash artwork. Pages crammed full of tiny text (and ads) in wall-to-wall boxes, I could go on, but these are among my pet peeves!

Three tips for designing a website that will get results:

1. If you are selling a product, your page should do just that…and ONLY that. Don’t fill up your page with links that take visitors away from the one action you want them to take: to buy your product.
2. For non-sales pages on your site, keep your navigation simple and consistent, and use white space liberally. You don’t need to fill every available spot with an ad or link!
3. Buy, and read, the book, “Don’t Make Me Think,” by Steve Krug. It’s a fun, lighthearted book with seriously great website layout advice. You’ll never look at your website the same way again! Don’t Make Me Think — A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Last 5 posts by Terri Zwierzynski

• The Grateful Life of a Solo Entrepreneur - November 17th, 2008
• Can a Lifestyle be a Niche? - November 4th, 2008
• Social Networking: Top 10 Tips for Twitter Success - November 3rd, 2008
• Virtual Book Tour: Becoming an Online Business Manager - October 20th, 2008
• Link correction: Viral Twitter Tactics - October 13th, 2008

This entry was posted on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Internet Marketing, Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.