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Make it Clear What Your Website is About


Just about every list of the "Top 10 Web Design Mistakes" includes at least one reference to either

1. Not clearly specifying the objectives of your website, or

2. Not making it obvious what your web pages are about.

Usually both of these things are mentioned. This usually stems from the inability to look at your business or products from the prospective customer's point of view.

Many marketing people confuse their own concerns with those of their potential customers. For instance they think that a sexy manufacturing technique, or the fact that the product uses "materials developed by NASA" will impress their customers. Generally it won't.

This is the classic mistake of confusing features with benefits. Saying that a vinyl banner is made of 13 oz vinyl is a feature. Saying that it is "virtually tear-proof" is a benefit -- namely, that it won't be ripped off its moorings and blown away by the first gentle breeze.

Web designers are just like all other business people in this regard. We have a difficult time stepping back from our little projects and looking at them from the perspective of our potential customers.

First and foremost we should realize that people who visit our sites have no idea what our sites are about until we tell them.

So we should tell them. And we should tell them very clearly and quickly. As Vincent Flanders says in Web Pages That Suck

Web design is the reverse of a magic trick. In a magic trick, you show the audience your right hand and perform the trick with your left. In Web design, you tell them where you're going first -- and then go there. People don't like surprises. It will certainly confuse them and it could make them angry."

Rick Hendershot is editor and publisher of the Linknet Marketing Resource Library.


MORE RESOURCES:

Yahoo! News Search Results for website design
Yahoo! News Search Results for website design

Website sells Shariah-approved sex aids to Muslims
The El Asira home page is a discreet design with two simple links for men and women. The only clue to its content are the small blue and pink hearts at the top of the page.
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Cosmetic Dentists Daniel Orellana, DDS and William Johnson, DDS have provided North Jersey residents new access to their state of the art offices with the launch of their new website designed by Roadside Multimedia.
Avery Graphics Design 66 Challenge Contest Winners Announced
Painesville, OH Three designs have crossed the finish line and are in the winners circle of the Avery Graphics Design 66 Challenge. Salute the Soldiers by Daniel Wayne Logue was selected as the winning design, chosen by NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace, the Rusty Wallace Racing team and sponsor 5-Hour Energy. More than 120 entries from across the United States and Canada were ...
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Bayshore Solutions is proud to announce the launch of the Flatwoods Consulting Group Inc. (Flatwoods) website. The Tampa Web design for the ecology and environmental consulting firm website is based on natural photo images and colors portraying a modern look and consistent branding message.
Website a waste
(Re: City pays $128,000 for new website design) Wow -- $128,000 for this amateur website? Another colossal waste of my property tax dollar. Ranks right up there with the addition to the arena that I'll never use and the new bridge built so Bulls fans can get to Wendy's quicker after the game.[...]

 

 

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