Creating Your Own Website With Small Business Web Design Tips
Many startups are realizing the importance of having a dedicated website
. There are many free hosting offers available and you will have to investigate it further to see whether the packages suit your needs. Whether you decide to attempt the project yourself, or outsource it to a professional designer, there are a few basics you should know about Small Business Web Design.
When people visit your site, they should immediately know who you are and what the nature of your business is. One way to do this is to have an attention grabbing heading on your front page of the website. The company logo should be situated on the top left hand corner. Make sure the contact us button is easily visible. Here you should have a contact us form, your email and your phone number and fax number.
Mission and vision statements are all very touching and nice, however your visitor is there to get a problem solved. He or she wants to know if you can do this and what it will cost him. They want to spend as little time on your website as possible. Prices on your website will save the visitor from having to phone in to get this information. Browse some of your oppositions websites and see what they do not have on their sites. If the missing information is relevant then add it to your web site.
Easy navigation is key. Many people want to access information they want in a single click. If your site is too comprehensive, add a search box. Be sure to title your pages properly and appropriately. Unique titles and keyword phrases will make for great ad copy.
Stick to clean and clear designs with no more than three different fonts. Use a maximum of three different colors. It is very hard to use more than that and make the site look neat. The right balance between graphics and text should be maintained. Search engines cannot determine the relevancy of a website with little to no text. Pictures do speak a thousand words, but you should have at least 250 words of text that is relevant to your business. Avoid using too many bold and italic fonts.
You will need the correct software to size your photos appropriately. Using the cursor to make the photos smaller will just take a lot of time to load in browser. The same rule applies when working with flash. Most people do not like flash as it may look nice but rarely contains any information of value. This means the visitor will get out of your site as quickly as possible and find another site to buy from.
News on your site should be current and up to date. Nothing is as bad as news from ten years ago. The Internet is fluid and dynamic. Unless you intend to post news weekly, do not have a news page.
Peruse the sites that you are prepared to buy from and then copy the layout, font and formatting that they have. If this still leaves you all at sea then rather second someone who understands Small Business Web Design.