It is very easy to get a website or develop one for yourself. One can easily create a technically effective website and call it a day. However, when it comes to making a website which is effective from a users point of view calls for understanding of various nuances and users psychology in order to make the site appealing and easy to use.
In this article we’ll see some of the essential factors that you need to be aware of while developing an effective website.
»Determine your Objective
Knowing the exact purpose of the site before starting to work on it helps a great deal in understanding what areas exactly you should focus on. If you are clear about your objective in the very beginning itself then it will help in the development process. Usually we are inclined towards creating a website which we like and do not take into consideration the visitors or users who are expected to use the website. This is really important because if the users are not comfortable with the site then you are not going to get the expected response and all your efforts would be wasted.
»Images
Images have a different effect on a user’s mind and kind of images and animations used can have different results. Many a time’s moving images distract the user and they may not find what you want them to find on the website.
Unwanted pop ups and flash messages are usually disliked by people and you do not want to have too many of those. Instead having relevant images with good quality and little descriptive text is often preferred by many and should be something you include on your website.
»Easy Navigation
A great website is one which allows users to easily find what they are looking for and does not make them feel lost. That said, as a rule a user should be able to reach a particular section in not more than 3 clicks and you may risk losing their interest and they may never return. All the necessary pages should be easily accessible and important links should be placed where needed and internal linking should be properly done.
»Plan for Future
Many people do not consider future needs when getting the website developed and as a result have to go through the process again when the need arises. To avoid this you need to assess how often would you need the website to be updated and if it requires frequent updates then would be better off with a content management system (CMS) which would be relatively easier to manage on your own and cost effective as well.
If you would need to add extra pages then having a flexible design which would be easily update is essential as you do not want to get a re-design again for minor changes.
»Quality of Content
Both in terms of search engines and user interest it is essential that you have high quality and unique content on your website which the users would find helpful. If you have low quality content which does not provide much information then it would make the user lose interest in your website and can affect your traffic and eventual sales volume. To have good number of visitors and repeat traffic it is essential that you have good informative content on your website.
In addition, when your website is ready make sure you host with a fast and reliable web hosting service provider which would allow your website to be quickly accessed by users. If the website loads slowly then you are at risk of losing many visitors which get irritated waiting for the site to load and find a alternative to it.
These are some of the important point that one must keep in mind when planning to develop a new website as these would really help make a great website.