Website Design Secrets 

© Illa Maden November 2006

Website design secrets like many other aspects of marketing on the internet are not secrets at all. Discovering what makes a successful website design is a combination of common sense, diligent research, willingness to learn and change, and a lot of trial and error.

There are many things to discover about website design. These five factors are important and basic.

1. When planning your website design consider load time

Considering load time should be a part of your website design plan. Planning out the elements of your website design is important to help you get it right. Planning your website design from the start will help you develop a site for the long term.

All websites require design changes and additions as time passes. This is good, and will keep your website current and of interest to both visitors and the search engines. But do plan the basics when first creating your website design plan..

If graphics are a large part of your website design, find out how to minimize the load time.  Give some thought to just how important that graphic is to your design. Keep graphics a reasonable size, and where possible add a feature that allows visitors to enlarge graphics in which they have a special interest.

When adding graphics to your website design, analyze just how important that graphic really is to your page. Is it really needed? What is it's purpose? How important will it be to your visitor?

The bottom line is, will it add real value to your page, or would your page be fine without it.

Since many potential visitors to your website are still on dial up connections, it is important to watch the load time of your website, and keep that an important consideration in your website design.

2. Simple, easy to use navigation is an essential to good website design

Navigation is also an important feature to your overall website design. Once you have gotten visitors to your website, you want to keep them. Make it easy for them to move around to other parts of your website. When planning your website design, keep the navigation as simple as possible.

Do a little surfing and look at the design of other websites. How is their navigation set up? Do they make it easy to get around on their website? Find what you like and what you think visitors would like and find easy, and work it into your own website design.

As you plan your navigation, consider whether you want navigation left or right on the page. You may want to add navigation to the footer as well. And you may even want to include certain navigation element within the body of your page.

A part of website design is guiding visitors on the course you have set up. Being able to easily guide visitors from one place to another on your page, or on your website may be a large part of the response you expect from visitors, whether it is to buy or maybe just fill in a form and sign up for something.

3. Design your website around focused content

Keyword research is the base of everything you do when marketing on the internet and will greatly affect the design of your website. Keyword research is a very important element of your website design. Other than the device you use to actually create pages for your website design, I can think of no other tool that has so much value.

Keyword research will help you decide what you are going to market, and who your market is. Don't even begin designing a website until you know these facts. What you market will greatly impact your website design. The design for a fishing website will look much different that a website designed to market cell phones.

Your website design should be built around tightly focused content. Once you have narrowed down who your market is and what to market, keep the content and other elements of your design focused around your product and don't throw in a lot of unrelated content and visuals.

If you need some guidance in doing keyword research and the design of your website, go to keyword suggestion tools and search engine placement tips for more help.

4. An awareness of good keyword density should be an integral part of website design

Keyword density follows right behind focused content. Keyword density should be an important element of design in your website pages. You've done the research to find out who your market is and what you are going to market. Use this keyword research information within your pages. More keyword density information.

The design of each page on your website should be planned to include a certain percentage of your keywords. This is necessary to bring traffic whether it is free or paid for traffic. Focusing on your keywords will keep your content relevant.

5. Within your website design plan for contact information and a privacy statement

Contact information and privacy statements are important in your website design. They do add to your credibility. As a webmaster I have seen many websites that offer no contact information.

Using trust seals, and even credit card logos add an element of trust and confidence in your website design. Having credit card logos in your design and on your website helps visitors feel you are a serious business person and will be around for the long haul.

Design your website so it is easy to make payment. If you process payment on your webiste, don't make it a difficult process, and make it easy to find.

Website design starts after you have decided through active keyword research what you are going to market. The design of your website should reflect what you are marketing. 
 

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