We live in a technologically-exciting world. Even brand new webmasters today can make use of easy to master web design tools that add functionality only a web programmer could have dreamed of just a couple of years ago. And that is great, right?
Wrong! Quite the opposite is true.
The accessibility of such web mastering tools has resulted in hundreds of “junk” websites that have so much going on at every page that the web surfer is completely overwhelmed.
Some of these web pages have as many as 7 or 8 distinct content areas contained on an 800 by 600 pixel screen… a flashing header graphic, several paragraphs of text, an opt in form, Google ads, Amazon ads, affiliate links, audio and/or video buttons to push, and sometimes even more.
Don’t be tempted to make such glaring mistakes. It’s unlikely that most web visitors will successfully navigate a site like this. There are too many decisions to make, too many distractions. And the content is completely lost in all the technology and advertising.
So, what is the answer?
Most successful webmasters today – that is, webmasters who have visitors coming back over and over to their site and who are making money and/or getting some other desired response – will tell you that the answer is clean and simple web design. Usability is the key.
Great website designs focus on 3 basic values:
- Simplicity
- Clarity
- Speed
In other words, you need a site that is visually appealing, but at the same time downloads quickly, and is easy for your to navigate.
To design a site that has visual appeal, you can make use of simple graphics, color, and graphical text. At all costs, stay away from flashing animations and busy backgrounds. In fact, a white, cream, or light yellow background with black or dark blue text is best, if you want the majority of visitors to be able to read your text easily.
It isn’t necessary to be an accomplished graphic artist to design a visually pleasing content site. Grab a photo or two from an inexpensive royalty-free photo site such as iStockPhoto (my favorite), add some colored text and a tagline using a graphics program like Serif Photoplus or Windows Paint Pro, and that’s all that is needed for a header.
Navigation should be simple text links or buttons, either across the top, right under the header, or down the left or right side of the screen. Don’t try to be tricky or cute with the words on the buttons – Make sure the text labels clearly indicate what the user will find when he or she clicks on them.
An optin form and one or two simple ads can also be placed in the left or right panes, with your content in the main center panel. Your content pane should be the largest area on the screen, so that it draws the reader’s focus.
Clean and simple web design extends to the layout of your content too. Text is most readable when it is in “chunks.” This means short sentences and paragraphs of no more than 2 to 4 sentences each.
Make liberal use of colored subheadings and bullets. Sprinkle a graphic or two per page to break up the text and add visual interest.
Use margins (padding) around your text, so that it doesn’t bump up against the edges of your navigation and ad panels. Lots of white space is crucial.
In summary, many beginning webmasters (and even some more experienced ones!) think that squeezing as much functionality into every page as possible is the right approach. It is not.
What will keep people on your site and keep them coming back as well, is a clean, simple, easy to navigate design.
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Changes, Relaunches, and Extreme Makeovers
First off, I’m trying a new experiment. I’ve decided to close and remove comments on this blog. Just to see what happens. Why? Here’s the thing…
When I post a new blog post, it will be crossposted to a few social networks. Some, by design with the help of a few tools and plugins. Others, by subscribers and readers who retweet, reblog, or trackback to my posts.
What I’ve noticed is, on these social networks — Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Digg, and now with the new Google Buzz — my posts seem to incite discussions on these locations. Discussions I love to participate in, too, when I have a chance.
I want to harness that social media power and divest myself of the constant moderation of this blog. I feel that, since there are so many discussions taking place elsewhere, why not take advantage of social media and bring the discussions to the public instead?
I understand that I might lose somewhat, such as less comments mean less keyword-rich user-generated content, as well as less control over what is being said about my blog posts. But I think the benefits far outweigh these.
Plus, half of the comments I get, especially on older blog posts, are spam or pseudo-spam. (You know, those friendly, one-liner spam comments like that are so general or complimentary in nature, you know they are just fake.)
Also, some posts get so many comments (i.e., hundreds, in some cases) that they tend to slow down the loading of pages. Load-time is a huge factor in SEO these days, too.
So I’ve removed all the comments and trackbacks, and eventually I’ll be adding re-Buzz, retweet, and Facebook-share buttons at the bottom of my posts. (I’ll be adding and testing them in the next few days. Although I’m not sure, yet.)
I’ll also be removing the list of the 10 most recent comments at the bottom of this website. Not sure what I’ll replace them with, though. (Do you have an idea? If so, tweet me, Facebook me, or Buzz me with some ideas.)
Next piece of news…
And I do mean “extreme,” because it’s more than just the new design, which I did with the help of a base template. The copy and content have all been completely rewritten from scratch — personally by my wife. All of it.
(I’ve never seen her type as feverishly as she did since she wrote her controversial report, Internet Marketing Sins.)
More important, the business model and service offerings have also changed to reflect new demands, markets, trends, and economy. The biggest of which is the removal of rate markups and her company as an intermediary.
As the small Internet businesses’ leading purveyor of freelance services and work-at-home jobs, my wife wanted to simplify how services were offered, managed, and delivered. She wrote about it in this candid blog post.
We’ll see how things go. If you do have any comments, you know where to find me.
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Changes, Relaunches, and Extreme Makeovers originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.
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