Key parts in building a more professional-looking website

03 DECEMBER 2009

As the number of websites on the internet seems to grow exponentially, it can be difficult to distinguish what is a good, professional looking website versus what is just trash advertising or a sloppy site. This is especially true with blogs, as well as shopping carts. Who can you trust for content? Who can you trust with your credit card information? Which sites can you be sure will not send you spam?

Today, everyone seems to be getting a little bit tech savvy. And who can blame them? It only takes a few minutes to create an account, get a free url and template and take your place among the ranks. The downside is that people who surf the internet are also getting savoir-faire about website building. People can easily spot an overused template, a confusing navigation, under-pixilated banners and pictures, or even that oh-so-classy touch of google ads plastered all over the place. These examples make me reminisce about a pre-internet era, the television age, when you could catch a few really shoddy commercials here and there. You know the ones…you couldn’t really put your finger on what was wrong, but it was almost cringe-worthy. Was it the quality of the camera? The substandard editing? Or those little cartoons added for emphasis? Used car dealerships and restaurants were always the culprits. Even mattress store commercials surpassed them in that department! At one point, you have to ask yourself: “How does my website reflect upon my business? What kind of image am I projecting to my future customers?

There are 3 key ingredients to any good website: A good design, smooth functionality and last but certainly not least, content of substance.

#3: Design
Website appearance and looks really plays in your favor for creditability. Think about when
you meet someone for the first time. The first step to getting to know someone is through physical appearance. Some people will even go as far as determining if they are interested in someone or not based on appearance alone. The same applies for a website. Whether you are a professional service, if you invest a lot of resources in the appearance of your website, etc, will be the first thing that people see when they click on your url. It’s important, because people will very easily navigate away from your website if they don’t like what they see. The design of your site needs to be attractive in a way that people can get information without being too distracted by colors or graphic elements.
Moreover, your website needs to appeal to your target audience. If you’re in the restaurant industry, chances are almost anyone can be your target audience. In building your website, you must keep in mind that your website needs to be appealing and understandable for people of all ages (font size neither too big nor too small), all professions (keep it business-like, but not boring), all tastes (too much of anything is a bad thing). As much as possible, you want your website to be unique so that it will have what writer Malcolm Gladwell calls “stickiness factor”. Stickiness factor is what information will stick to a person and will make them remember your restaurant more than others. Stickiness factor works for the general appearance of your website, as well as the content.

#2: Navigation and Functionality
Always keep the KISS principle in mind (Keep It Simple, Stupid). A lot of people make excessive use of flash animation or ultra-fancy navigations to stand out of the crowd. But the crowd is just clicking that little X on the top right hand corner of the browser. Indeed, people like simplicity. There are websites that are so confusing, you don’t know where to click to get past the animations. Other websites are easy to access, but once you’re there, you don’t really know where to go. Since no one in their right mind would waste extra time trying to understand a website, it’s important that you stay clear and organized. Your website should effortlessly guide your visitors. For example, a navigation bar under the main logo or banner with smaller links to content pages such “about us”, “products” or “contact us” (company information builds credibility!) will direct the user to important information about who you are and what your website does. Bigger icons or images in the center of the page would be the content area. Something like this would be a traditional organization that everyone can easily recognize. If your visitors are confused, they are more likely to abandon the page. If your website contains a lot of subsections, it is also recommended to create a site map. This will often be used by visitors and search engines will definitely take note.

#1: Content
Content is key. A professional website should have a well organized content which reads easily and with a good flow, without being too repetitive. To keep the reader’s interest, content should be relevant, interesting and should add some value to the reader. Do research about your subject matter, explain how you like to do things, write about your own experience, etc. Basically, make what you have to say important by bringing something to the table.