A Simple Guide To Designing Profitable Websites

Your website is where your business resides - it's like the headquarter of an offline company.

That's why it's important to practice good web design
principles to reach the maximum number of visitors.


Here are some tips that will help...


Use clear navigation directions

Your site navigation menu should be uncluttered and
concise so that your visitors know how to navigate
around your website without any confusion.

Reduce the number of images

It's a fact that graphics make a website look more
attractive. But there are still many internet users on
dial-up, so keep in mind to reduce the size of your
graphics if possible. Large images make your site
load slowly and more often than not they are just
a waste of bandwidth.

If you find that graphics are essential on your site,
you can optimize them by using an image editing
program so that they meet a minimum file size.

There are also free online services that will do it
for you.

Here's one:
http://www.tools.dynamicdrive.com/imageoptimizer

Keep your text paragraphs at reasonable length

Reading online is a different experience then reading
off line print media. If a paragraph is too long, you
should split it into separate parts so that the text
blocks will be much easier to read.

Use a lot of white space between your copy. This
gives the eyes some rest, and keeps your readers
alert.

Also, don't make your font too small, or people will
have problems reading your copy.

Make your website cross-browser compatible

If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but
breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose
out on a lot of prospective visitors. So, always check
how your website looks in different browsers.

It's best to have a set of browsers on your own
computer, rather than relying on online services.

You can also use the W3C validator -it may help
with your website compatibility.

Here are two free online browser check services:
http://www.browsercam.com
http://www.anybrowser.com/siteviewer.html

Avoid using scripting languages on your site

Try to use scripting languages to handle or manipulate
data on your site, and not to create visual effects.

Scripts are not supported across all browsers, so
some visitors might miss important information
because their web browser crashes.

Using website templates the right way

Website templates are very affordable these days
and can save you a lot of hassle when you want
to create a new layout.

That's the point of using a template... to save time
and effort. You can go a long way by just changing
the title, entering your keywords, put in some new
graphics and appropriate details and you're done.

Example: you find a nice template that suits your
gardening hobby site, except the original designer
has put an image of stamps in the header.

You can then search for images of garden plants,
or gardening tools, to replace the stamps for your
hobby site.

Just be aware of using too popular templates. If
many people use the same template, your site
will not appear unique and your credibility as a
solid, different business will be tarnished.

The last thing you want your site to do is appear
generic just like your next-door neighbors.

I hope these tips will help your to make a better
performing website.
by Dirk Dupon