How to Plan Your Website: Design Tips for Non-Designers
July 14, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · 4 Comments
In any website design project, the planning phase is the most critical. If you’re working with a website designer, it’s essential that you communicate your vision clearly so that the designer can make your vision a reality. And the designer must communicate her vision too, providing clear examples, ideas, and images that will help you understand what the site will look like once it’s completed.
There are three basic components to any design: the design itself (look and feel of the site), content (text and images that will appear on the site), and functionality (how it works).
As you work with your designer, you need to keep all of these components in mind. Additionally, there will be a learning curve for both of you as your designer studies the nature of your business in order to reflect it appropriately in your design and as you learn about the many options available to you in terms of how your business will be presented to an online audience.
Throughout the planning process, clear communication is key to building a good relationship with your designer and to your designer building a great site for you.
I thought I’d share some basic website design tips that will help you work with a designer to hammer out the details of your design plan. By working as a team with a shared goal and by focusing on communications and smart planning strategies, you and your website designer can build a stellar website together.
Website Design Tips to Help You Get Through the Planning Process
1. You Don’t Need a Vision — Most designers are thrilled when a client gives them complete creative control over a design project. If you’re not sure which direction to take in terms of design, consider giving the designer some leeway. Tip: Ask for samples to make sure you like the designer’s work, and pay special attention to the designer’s own sites since they’ll offer a good example of her style.
2. Use Examples — Nothing is clearer than a visual example. Spend some time surfing the web and find different website designs that appeal to you. Be sure to scroll through the pages and note what you do and don’t like. Collect a few URLs (links) and then send them to the designer with your thoughts about each one. Tip: Start with your competitors, but branch out into other fields too.
3. Don’t Overdo It — If you send your designer 100 examples, there’s going to be a lot of confusion. Shoot for sending your designer three to five examples of designs that you like with notes highlighting what appeals to you and why.
4. State What You Want — Be specific about what you like and what you want. If you send your designer three links to sites you like that are all extremely different from one another, she’s not going to be able to figure out which elements you like best unless you communicate your preferences to her. Offer comments about each site’s design. Do you like the colors? The layout? Does the site boast features that you’d like to see on your site? Is the content similar to yours?
5. Mention Your Dislikes — If there’s a design element you’ve seen but don’t like, make sure you let your designer know about it lest she use it on your site!
Avoiding Feature Creep
Try not to engage in feature creep. What’s that?, you ask (I’m so glad you asked). Feature creep is when you see the final design for the first time and suddenly come up with a bunch of new ideas that were not included in your original project scope and expect the designer to add these features to your design at no additional charge.
Examples of feature creep are as follows: Actually, I think I would like a form on the contact page after all. I know I said I didn’t want a blog on my site, but now I do. Those colors just aren’t working for me. Oh, by the way, while you were working on the site, I had a new logo made. Most feature creep requests are followed by a statement like, That’ll only take a minute or two, right?
It’s that last statement that qualifies a request as feature creep. Most designers do expect a project to expand a little as it unfolds and will build that into the price, but any big, time-consuming add-on (as well as a bunch of little add-ons) will incur additional fees. If you do want to make some serious changes, you should be upfront with your designer, because trust me, your designer wants you to be a very happy and satisfied customer. Just be aware that some post-design adjustments may show up on your final invoice.
Teamwork
Like any true professional, a website designer wants you to be pleased with the final product. But since it’s your website, you have an important role in explaining what you want your site to look like. As long as you communicate clearly and openly with your designer (and encourage her to do the same), the design process will flow smoothly and your website will come out looking exactly the way you want.
Scribizzy offers website design services for small businesses, independent professionals, and bloggers. Visit our website design page to learn more or get a quote online.
Small Business Website Design Tips: 9 Things to Avoid
June 2, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · 8 Comments
When you’re shopping around for a small business website design, do you know what to look for and what to avoid? Do you know which design elements will make your site more appealing and which elements will turn visitors away?
If you’ve spent much time surfing around the web, then you’ve probably noticed that some websites have design elements that are distracting, annoying, or just plain ugly. We’ve all bumped into a few websites that make us want to scream. Luckily, escape is just a click away.
But if you’re a small business owner, you definitely don’t want visitors clicking away from your website, especially if they’re seeking escape because the design is unappealing or irritating.
10 Design Elements to Avoid
Here’s a list of design elements that people frequently complain about. Most of these recommendations have been on web designers’ things-to-avoid lists for years, but these frustrating features just keep showing up all over the internet.
- Automatic-loading Music: This is number one on the list for good reason. Nothing startles a website visitor more than loud audio suddenly protruding from the speakers. Maybe the visitor is already listening to background music. Maybe they’re trying to focus on your content (and if your content is not centered around music, the sound is just a distraction). Maybe there’s a baby sleeping nearby. Be considerate and make audio optional.
- Flashing, Blinking, or Scrolling Text: If it’s subtle, you might be able to get away with it. But like audio, moving text is nothing more than a distraction. Sure, you might be using it to get the visitor’s attention, but once you do and they start seriously perusing your site, it’s just going to become an annoyance.
- Animations: Some animations work well with a design. If you’re an illustrator or an animated cartoonist, go for it. But if you’ve got a website that’s centered around some product or service that doesn’t include art or animation, then keep your content static.
- Pop-up Windows: No. Just no. I don’t care if your windows pop up in front, in back, or right on the page. Don’t do it. Some websites are still using pop-ups or have returned to pop-ups. They will never be sustainable because they’ll ultimately annoy people.
- Image Backgrounds: This one almost didn’t make the list because there are a lot of image backgrounds that work well, especially textures. So this is not so much a design element you need to avoid as one that you need to use judiciously. As long as the images are small and fast-loading, you should be okay. But if a solid color will work just as well, then get rid of your image backgrounds. And do note that most major (and hugely successful) websites don’t use them (Google, Amazon, etc.).
- Frames: These days, with CSS and other design technologies so readily available, frames are just an unnecessary and outdated technique for organizing the content on a site. The problem with frames is that they are not compatible with all browsers and may render differently on different computers. So opt for a content management system (like WordPress) instead.
- Excessively Wide or Long Pages: This should go without saying, but I still run into these types of websites on occasion. I always wonder if the designer is using an enormous monitor and has forgotten that most people use 12 to 15 inch screens. And try to remember that visitors don’t like to scroll endlessly down (or across) the page. Except on archived sections of your site, keep scrolling to the length of two or three pages.
- Indistinguishable Links: Have you ever hovered your mouse over a web page and it caused a window to open or carried you off to some other page? That’s just plain weird. Links are meant to be clicked so make sure they’re clickable and make sure that visitors can distinguish a link from regular text.
- Opening a Link in a New Window: There are some instances in which I don’t mind links opening in a new window, but usually I prefer to make the decision myself. All I have to do is command-click (Windows users can right-click and choose “open link in new window”). When web designers use this functionality, website visitors end up with dozens of open windows, and there’s a good chance the window with your site on it will get lost in the fray. Let people use the back button. That’s what it’s there for.
Exceptions to These Website Design Tips
These design elements should be avoided, but not always. Whenever you’re reading a list of tips, it’s important to remember that there are usually plenty of exceptions. In the list above, I’ve pointed out some obvious exceptions, but you should always remember to use your best judgment and keep in mind that sometimes breaking the rules or defying convention is a good thing. If you’re not sure about whether a particular website design idea would have a negative impact on your site, ask your website designer or consult with a web content specialist. Also, ask friends, family, customers, and professionals in your network. Nothing beats user feedback!
12 Website Design Tips for Small Businesses
April 21, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · 1 Comment
If you’re running a small business, you’re probably pretty busy. You’re managing a team of employees, generating leads, balancing the books, or simply doing whatever it is that you do best.
Maybe you’re a plumber. Or a piano teacher. Maybe you run a boutique or a roller skating rink. Whatever it is that you do, you know your field of expertise, and website design is not it.
But you have to hire someone to design your site, right? How can you make smart decisions about your website design if you’re not an expert in websites or design?
If you’re a small business owner, it pays to learn a little about the inner workings of the web. If you understand a few basics about website design and online marketing, it will be much easier for you to choose a website designer and work with your designer to build a site that will achieve your business objectives.
Website Design Tips
This guide provides website design tips for small businesses that need to establish a web presence and launch an online marketing campaign but have no background in online marketing or website design. Always remember this: Your website should be designed to further the progress of all these aspects of your business:
1. Define your business
When you started your business, did you write a business plan? If you did, then you have already defined your business. But many people who are self-employed have never bothered to write a business plan because they never required a loan or any type of financing. They just hung up their sign and started selling their wares. Here are a few points you need to clarify before getting a website:
- Company Mission – What is your primary purpose?
- Business Philosophy – What is your business approach?
- History – What are your credentials and how did you get started in this business?
- Products and Services – What are you selling?
- Features and Benefits – How do your offerings improve customers’ lives?
- Customers – Who are your customers?
- Image and Branding – What image do you want to project and what tone do you want to convey?
A website designer can use this information to create a site that accurately reflects your business. Some of this information will be used directly, but mostly it will inform the sensibility that your site conveys. All of it’s helpful — for you, your website designer, and any other web content services provider that you work with.
2. Build Your Brand
A website is really an extension of your brand, especially when we’re talking specifically about website design. Your brand is your image, the tone and flavor of your business. It has a distinct attitude and a message. It’s memorable and catchy. Think about the GE light bulb and the slogan “We bring good things to life” or the Apple brand, which communicates a tone of elegant but functional simplicity and minimalism. You need to define your business personality for a website to be truly effective.
3. Develop an Online Marketing Strategy
Once you finish building your website, what are you going to do with it? You’d be surprised how many abandoned websites are collecting dust all over the Internet. People keep paying their annual domain registration and hosting fees, but their websites have zero visitors on any given day. Why even bother? The goal of your website is to attract traffic and then convert that traffic into paying customers. How are you going to get people to come to your site? That is the question that all good online marketing strategies answer.
4. Create a Content Development Plan
Let’s face it — getting your first website is cool. It’s super cool. Even your second and third websites are exciting. Each redesign is an opportunity to make your business stand out. I myself have been seduced by the awesomeness that is slick website design. The first few websites I designed had absolutely no written content. But I was just trying to learn how to make a website. I didn’t have a business back then.
Every website needs a comprehensive content development plan. On more than one occasion, I’ve been hired to write website copy for a client only to find out that the site design was already commissioned and imposed strict limitations on the copy. “We need a 50-word blurb here, and about 250 words there, a ten-line something or other across the top.” That’s all fine when design is your priority, but as you delve deeper into the project, there are pages where 250 words may not be enough (like on a terms and conditions page).
The written content and the design must work together toward a common purpose: to market your business. All the fancy schmancy designing in the world is meaningless if it can’t hold the message that you want to share.
5. Identify Your Web Content Needs
Speaking of web content development, who’s going to be providing the website copywriting for your site? Have you thought about hiring an online marketing expert to help you draw traffic? Do you have time to manage the site and track its performance or will you be hiring that out as well? Lots of small business owners do nothing more than hire a website designer and then forget about the rest, creating a wide gap between their business’s online performance and potential. If you thought this through while you were writing your business and marketing plans, then great. You’re golden. If not, then now is the time to think beyond the design.
6. Establish Your Budget
You can spend a few dollars on a website or you can spend thousands of dollars. And everything in between. Spend some time researching website designers. Get a few quotes, and then set a realistic budget. Don’t be so cheap that you end up with an amateurish website, but don’t get too extravagant either. If you’re a small business just starting out or trying to grow into your next phase, know that you can find excellent website designers who offer affordable rates and turnkey solutions. You might not be able to get all the bells and whistles, but you should be able to get a solid, functional, and aesthetic design. And remember, you can always rehire your website designer later to make changes.
7. Find the Right Website Designer
If you’re going to hire a website designer, make sure you look at their portfolio before you sign the quote or issue your deposit. Design can be highly stylistic, and if your designer’s style doesn’t align with the style you want for your business, then the project is doomed. This is especially true if your design project will include creating a logo or any kind of illustration. The more complex and involved the design, the more essential it is that you find a designer whose work you like.
8. Understand Your Web Designer’s Services
Website designers often offer services exclusively in design. Website design is a specialty, not an all-inclusive online marketing service. Do you need written content or help with online marketing? Your website designer may offer these complementary services or may be able to refer you to other service providers. You might luck out and find yourself at a one-stop shop that provides the whole kit and caboodle. But do understand that website design is just one of the many services you may need to launch your site.
9. Let The Designer Do The Designing
There’s nothing wrong with injecting a little personality into your site, but overrunning your business site with photos of your pets, your kids, and your car is both unprofessional and distracting. Sure, it’s acceptable to mention a few of your hobbies. Use a family photo in your bio. Customers like knowing there are real people behind a small business. But remember that your website is not the place to hawk your coin collection (unless your business is a coin agency). The same goes for color schemes and other design elements. Florescent pink and lime green may look hip to you, but that doesn’t mean they are ideal colors for your law firm’s website (although there are always exceptions!). When in doubt, consult your designer, and trust their professional opinion since that’s exactly why you hired them in the first place.
10. Promote and Market Your Site
Once your site is done, you’re ready to start promoting it. Make sure you add your website URL to your business cards and other stationary. Add a signature to the bottom of your email with a link to your site. Put links in your social media profiles. Start publishing a newsletter or a blog. Purchase ad space on relevant sites. And launch a full-blown online marketing campaign to start driving targeted traffic to your website.
11. Track Your Website Performance
Once your site is live and your marketing campaign is underway, you should start actively monitoring your website performance. This can be done weekly, monthly, or even quarterly. Website performance reports will tell you whether your site is doing its job well. How many visitors are coming to your site? Where are they coming from? How long are they staying? Are they taking the desired actions? These are just a few of the questions that a website performance report will answer.
12. Perform Regular Website Maintenance
A website is like a car. It needs regular maintenance. Some websites run on a content management system, and when the software updates, so must your website. Browsers also get updated, providing new functionality and sometimes rendering old designs obsolete. Try to keep your site fresh and all software current. This is especially true for sites with a lot of written content. Check regularly to make sure the text on your site is still valid and current.
Summary
These days, a website is essential for any small business that wants to make its products and services accessible and available to more customers. So take your time and take these website design tips to heart. With proper planning, your website will be a smart investment that promotes and grows your business.
Find out how Scribizzy can help you build a more effective website by visiting our services page, or if you know exactly what you need, go ahead and get a quote online.
Seven Simple Website Design Tips
March 10, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · 8 Comments
Your website is your number one marketing tool, and your website design is one of your core opportunities to convey your company’s image.
When visitors come to your website, they’ll sum it up in a flash based on what they see. Content is important, but aesthetics are a close second.
Whether you’re designing your own website or hiring someone to design one for you, you should have a solid idea of how you want to portray your business. If you have already started establishing your identity with a logo and marketing plan, then you’ve got the foundation you need for your website design.
However, there are still many considerations to keep in mind, and throughout the process of designing a new website (or redesigning an existing one), you will need to make choices about how your site will look and feel so that it represents your business appropriately.
Here are seven website design tips that cover the core components every website needs in order to succeed. These tips will help you make smart design choices so that your site captures visitors’ attention while maintaining the integrity of your company’s identity.
Website Design Tips
1. Build Your Brand with a Logo
Design is an excellent tool for brand building. If you have a logo, it should be prominently displayed on your home page and all subsequent pages as well. If you don’t have a logo, you should get one immediately. If you’re an independent entrepreneur using your name to do business, consider developing a signature-style logo, using a particular font and possibly your photo, or some other simple visual emblem. Logos help to build familiarity, association, and reputation, and they are the essential in developing your brand.
2. Color Choices
Often the color choices you’ve made for your logo will drive the design of your website. However, simple logos, or brand designs that are flexible enough to adapt to a broader color scheme may lend themselves to a wider variety of designs. You should already know the objective of your site, so choose colors accordingly. There are an unlimited number of color combinations that can work; a good way to determine what direction you want to take is to spend some time surfing around the web looking at sites that target the same audience you are going after, and make note of designs that strike your fancy. Keep in mind that selecting two or three different colors in varying shades will generate a better design.
3. Font and Text
There are so many exciting fonts out there, but don’t be tempted! You can use fancy fonts for your title, logo, and headings, but use a very simple, easy-to-read font for the bulk of your content, and remember that fonts are stored on visitors’ computers locally, so if you’re using a font that’s not web-friendly, turn it into an image. For your content, make sure that you use dark text on a light background for better readability. Too many people get overly excited about all the font and color choices, and go to great lengths to make their site look extraordinary, but if you make the text difficult to read, visitors will click off to some other site that puts less stress on their eyesight. Lastly, make sure your font size is not too small… or too big.
4. Header
The header is located at the top of a web page, and it’s usually the area where you’ll find the title or site name. This should be prominent, clear, and easy to read. The title can be text or an image but it should provide the name of your site, and give some clue as to what your site is all about. You can always use a tagline in the header to broadcast your site’s purpose. Also, if you do have a logo (and you should), it should be in the header. Bonus tip: Your header should be clickable and should always take visitors back to the home page.
5. Images
The more images you have on any web page, the longer it takes to load. Generally, web surfers will wait just a few short seconds for a page to load before they go off in search of speedier delivery. Ensure that your images are optimized for the web, and that you don’t clutter your page with them. Keep in mind that videos and slideshows take even longer to load than regular images. However, you should have at least a few images on each page. Images break up long strings of text, and create spatial interest, which is attractive to the eye. Of course sites geared toward art, photography, film, etc. are exceptions to this rule!
6. Layout & Content Planning
Before you design a site, you should have a good idea of what its content will be. This is achieved through thoughtful web content development. Determine the content for your site, and then you, or your designer, can start to establish a formidable layout and website design. Always develop a plan for content before you start working on design. There’s nothing worse than putting a site together only to discover there’s not enough room in your navigation menu for all the content you want to include.
7. Navigation
Your main menu or navigation bar will act as your site’s table of contents. It is here that you want to display simple links to key pages within your site. There are a few pillar pages that almost every website should have, which include Home, About, and Contact. Most business sites will also include Products or Services pages as well. Take a look at other sites within your niche to establish other key pages that warrant a link on the navigation menu.
Moving Forward
Website design projects can be stressful but can also be a lot of fun. It’s exciting to see the whole thing come together, especially for the first time. Even redesigns will help breathe new life into a business, and will often help to ramp up sales, even in a down economy.
A few final website design tips:
- Keep your design flexible enough so that you can add and change content later on.
- Include a plan for website maintenance and regular updates.
- Make sure the site is thoroughly tested on various operating systems and browsers to ensure full functionality.
Scribizzy offers website design services for small businesses. All projects are tailored to your business needs and specifications. Start your website project today by getting a quote online!
Small Business Website Design
February 17, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · Leave a Comment
Your website only has a few seconds to make a stunning first impression. That means the design has a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. The colors have to be inviting. The images need to be compelling. The layout must be user-friendly. Your business brand and mission have to be communicated clearly and effectively.
Scribizzy builds sites that have style, substance, and purpose. We specialize in small business website design, and our goal is to create a site that resonates with your target customers, a design that reflects your brand while showcasing your products and services.
All of our sites are built using a robust content management system, which allows you to log in and manage the content on your site. You’ll be able to add pages, alter the text, work with images. It’s as easy as using web-based email! So you don’t have to rehire us every time you want to make a small change to your site (although if you want to hire us to update your site, we’d be more than happy to oblige).
Because we’re dedicated to serving small business owners, we developed our website design services to be flexible and affordable. We’re also focused on delivering designs that resonate:
- Brand Consistency – a look that aligns with your business logo, image, and philosophy
- Customer-focused and user friendly – we create your website with your customers in mind
- Flexible – if you want to tweak or upgrade your design later, we won’t have to rebuild it from the ground up
- Manageable – you’ll be able to change the text and images on your site in minutes
- Affordable – we can work within your budget and deliver a professional site that’s also affordable
If you have a tight budget today, we can create a simple, cost-effective design for you. Since we use a flexible design system, you can start with the basics and upgrade your design later. In other words, we can build a site that will grow with your business, not a site that has to be rebuilt from the ground up every time you’re ready to expand.
Want to learn more? Visit our Website Design page. Ready to get your small business website design underway? Get a quote online.
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