How to Build Effective Websites

Having a website these days is not optional. If you want to do business effectively, and you want to compete, then your company has to be online. However, there’s a vast difference between an effective website, that boosts your company’s profile, and creates new business, and one that does little more than take up space in a forgotten corner of the internet.

If your site falls into the second category, and you are about to give up, and declare it a failure as a marketing tool, do not do it just yet. There are a few things that every effective website has in common with other effective websites, and it may just be that yours needs a remodel.

The first thing your site needs to do is load quickly. Internet users are not the most patient bunch, and it has been proven that sites that take longer than ten seconds to load, on any browser, lose traffic. The best way to make sure that your site does not take too long to load is to avoid automatic flash introductions, large unnecessary images, and other big files, that will slow your site down. Test it using a variety of different internet connections, and make sure that it is loading within that crucial ten-second window.

The next step in making sure you have an effective website is to define your site’s purpose. Is it an informational site, or one that is promoting a business or product? Having a clear understanding of what you want your website to do is the next step in making sure it is effective.

Then there are the basics of web design. Sites that have broken links or difficult to understand navigation tend not to be popular with web users. Those that have lots of distracting, blinking ads, and those with a poor text to background contrast are also problematic. Even using a font that’s too small can have an impact on the effectiveness of your site, so whatever you do, make sure that your site content is clear, and easy to read.

Functionality is another big part of having an effective website. If you have a site that is promoting a local business, do you have an easy method by which visitors can contact you? Adding a form on your site, where visitors can automatically contact you, can have a big impact on how effective your website is at achieving your goal! Likewise, if you have an online store, using a commercial shopping cart system to streamline the purchasing process is far better than expecting your visitors to follow a complex and difficult to understand buying process.

Finally, there is the content itself. There is an old saying about the internet: content is king. That is true for internet users, and for search engines. In order to have an effective website, you need to have high quality content that is interesting, and useful to the reader, but also optimised for search engines. You also need to make sure that your content stays fresh, by adding new content all the time. You can do this by adding articles, hosting a blog or news section on your site, or integrating community content, in the form of a chat room or forum.

When you combine all of these: a website that loads quickly, has a clear purpose, is easy to read and navigate, is function, and has great content, then you have an effective website – whether you paid a fortune to have it designed, or did it yourself.

Of course, having a great website has enormous benefits for the business owner. It serves as your marketing department around the world, and works for you 24/7. It is prestigious, and a well-designed web site can present a professional image to the world whether you work from your spare room as a one-man operation, or you have a fully-fledged company. It makes connecting with your clients easier, and can spread the message about your business, products, or services faster, and at less cost, to people around the world.

Whether you already have a website, or whether you’ve decided that yours is not as effective as you’d like it to be, and are planning a redesign, there are several things you can do to make the process of designing a great site a little bit easier.

First, take a look at your competitors’ websites. What elements do they include in their site that you like, and what don’t you like? Then look at other sites, and find those that you feel are effective sites. Make notes about what they look like, what sections and categories they have, and other elements you think would work on your site.

Next, site down with a piece of paper, and make a mock up of your site. Include design elements if you’d like, but focus on the content, sections, navigation and other functions and features of your site. Whether you’re planning to design your own site, or have a professional do it, having a hand written ‘road map’ like this can help to make the process of designing an effective site a lot easier.

There’s been a lot written about web design – enough to fill whole libraries. Look at the rules that those books give you, but also look at actual websites. What appeals to you as a web user? If you can pinpoint what your audience wants, and give it to them, then you have an effective website – it is as simple as that.