Web Site Design

Many people fail to understand just how important the design of a Web site is to your online image. But in order to achieve online success, one must have both a wonderful product or service and a great design. This is because people assume that if the Web design is unprofessional, the product is inferior. Just as humans have a tendency to "judge a book by its cover," they also tend to make an association between a business's Web site and its product.

Below are some pointers on how to advoid representing your business inappropriately online:

• Keep your site clean and organized. Do not make your site overwhelmingly "busy". I'm sure you have visited a sites where there were thousands of animated pictures, fluorescent text and colors, crowded pictures, and huge text.
• Avoid "clip-art" type graphics. Take the time to learn how to make your own graphics using whatever program you can get your hands on. We recommend Ulead PhotoImpact 5.
• Don't talk about yourself! Tell you viewers how you can help them and the benefits your product or service will provide. Focus on them!
• Test with different browsers Every Web browser interprets code differently than the next, and can display a page horrendously when another makes it look perfect.
• Proofread your site. Poor grammar or spelling give your company an unprofessional online image.
• Keep your design consistent. Keep your web site's design consistent, and make it clear to the visitor where they are on the Internet and on your site.
• Do not always use backgrounds. Backgrounds can have a tendency to make a site feel very unprofessional. If you don't know what you're doing, stick with a plain white background with contrasting text. It's simple, and it's very clean and easy to read.
• Use small images. I don't mean that you should use visually small images. I mean that you should use images that are small in terms of file size. The best way to go about doing this is to compress your images to a more reasonable size. Ulead's Photo Impact has all of these features build in.
• Be Careful With Your Fonts. Keep your fonts consistent, and only use one or two, or, if you really have to, three. Try not to use custom true type fonts because not all your viewers will have them installed on their computers.