I got to thinking the other day about what makes up a good  websites and I  thought I  had better share  this with you today.  We have all visited websites that were designed poorly and let’s face it: we don’t linger long when we do find them.   Good website design is extremely important as it is essentially to our electronic “front porch.”  Your website is your customer’s first impression of your business house. Ensuring that it is tidy, convenient, attractive and friendly, is the first step in enticing your visitors inside to get to know you.

Your well-designed website is your place to introduce yourself and your business.

Rather than being another face in the crowd, your website, like you, should stand out and apart from the rest.  It should be attractive, well-polished and simple to navigate.  It should  express your purpose clearly and easily.  Your visitor’s should know exactly what your business does without digging for information.  A professional website is a reflection of your professional services.  When visitors come to your website, they are essentially interviewing you. Who hires a disorganized, hard to understand, under-dressed mess?  I think you get my point!

Navigation should be simple and user-friendly.  Guests should be able to find answers to their questions simply and easily, and your professionalism should shine throughout.  Graphics, texts, and navigational tools should be sensible and easy to read and understand.  Your logo should be incorporated and the overall scheme of the website should reflect the elements of your branding.  Like it or not, the black and gold of the Pittsburgh Steelers is easily recognized by any football fan.

A strong, professional website is developed with great planning and great content.  Unless you or your cousin Charlie’s son at the local tech school is a professional web designer, enlist the services of a professional web designer.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important to your website.  SEO is the stuff that gets people to find you on Google, Yahoo and other search engines.  Your website should similarly reflect the colors of your branding.

WARNING POSSIBLE BOO BOO Be sure that your web designer incorporates SEO into the design and content of your site, and for heaven’s sake, don’t include any content with misspellings, typos, or bad grammar.  With grammar and spell check available electronically available virtually everywhere throughout word processing programs, there’s no excuse for any of those things and they can cost you business money.

Like wearing a good, classic suit to an interview, your website should be professionally tailored.  Flashy stuff like pop ups, or animated graphics, or current times and temperatures (unless you are a weather-related business) are distracting and may cost you the job!

I encourage you to share your comments.  Please let others know about boo boo’s you have seen on other blogs or websites.  It helps others when you share your searches!!!!!

YOUR TURN:  What do you think are some Boo Boo’s with a website you have seen on line or your own website?  Please comment below!

I hope this helps you with planning your new website.