Web Design from a Consumer’s Angle

Web Design from a Consumer’s Angle





Many people take a look at a website landing page but their decision after seeing the landing page is the make-or-break point.



Does your customer click on your website’s links do they take one look at your landing page then hit the "Back" button?



I’ve done the latter so many times. In fact, I find it annoying that there are some websites that detect my immediate Back-Button reflex and a pop up message comes up asking me to put in my information. No way! I just tried to exit from your website and now, you’re asking me to leave my contact details? I don’t think so.



Lesson learned: Don’t put annoying pop ups on your website.





Now, let’s talk drop down menus. To be honest, I’m not really a big fan of it. It’s okay if the sub menus are only one level deep and is properly labeled so I’ll know where I’m going to if I click one link. In generally, I go by the six-by-six rule. This goes for banners, title lines, slogans and other large print text on your website. The rule is that there should be no more than six words across and no more than six lines down. If your drop down items exceeds six on the first level, you need to restructure it so that your information is better classified according to categories. It really doesn’t help your customers if they have to read down and find out that the info they’re looking for is not in your website after all.



Lesson learned: Keep your website menu simple and properly labeled.



Let’s go to web content! If you have a lot of information about your company, it would do good to put an "intro" on the landing page and a link to "read more". This gives your customer an overview of the full text before they actually click on the website link.



Think of it like opening a door. If you’re not really sure what’s behind the door, you will be hesitant to open it. By putting an intro on your landing page, it functions as a tiny glass window that lets your customer take a peek of the website page they’re about to be linked to.



Take any search engine for example like Google or Yahoo. When you search for an item, it takes you to a list of search results. Each search result has an intro to the website. To summarize, make it easy for your customers to find the information they need. Otherwise, it would be really tedious to navigate your website.



Lesson learned: Consider putting intro text for your main web pages on your landing page. You can display it as decorative boxes or links too.





Lastly, make the website FOR your customer. I cannot emphasize enough the value of giving due thought to simplifying the links on your website because this benefits your customers.



When you say smooth navigation, you have to mean it. Find a way to make your customer spend more time reading, shopping, filling up online forms on your website instead of "looking" for what they need.



Lesson learned: Think of your customer’s response to your website before you upload it.



----------------------

Affordable Web Design Services. Know more today!