The primary goal of a good website is
to generate traffic and new/repeat business. This can only be achieved by
having a website that:
- Loads quickly. Recent studies have shown that if a page doesn't load
within 8-10 seconds you will lose many of your visitors.
- Is recognized by Search Engines. If a search engine can't properly
index your site, searchers will never know your business exists.
Many business owners are convinced (and charged) by their
web designers to use a large image or a flash design for their intro page. When
searching for a product or service, many potential visitors will not wait for
these annoying pages to load, and simply go to the next site on their list.
Also, these type of intro pages do not contain the important text to be indexed
by search engines. The first page of a website should contain all the keywords
that potential visitor would use in a search. A viewer should also find a
summary of your business and what they will find on successive pages.
Important rules for designing a multi-page site:
- Keep the amount of clicks that a visitor must make to find important
information to a minimum.
- Have a clear and consistent navigation menu that welcomes visitors to use
to view the information you want them to see.
- Eliminate any unnecessary features like childish animations, large/slow
images, music, and forms to be filled in. These all slow the loading of pages,
distract from the important information, or like forms, are rarely used.
This does not mean you have to have a plain, unattractive
site. This could appear to be an amateurish design and put off visitors as
well. Our goal is to find the optimum balance between aesthetics and function.
Another advantage of keeping it clean and simple is the reduced cost of design
and hosting.
~Wm. Kibbel III
