Website Theory
You might expect to find more than the 1430 results about “website theory” on Google’s search engine. But that’s all there is. In other words, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of thinking going on about websites.
Core Website tasks
Attract visitors
- Sell what people are looking for
- Make sure the words describing products and services (key terms) actually are on the website
- Search engines infer importance from how words are located on a page and in URL’s
- Have an idea about how important both internal and external links are
- Use blog technology, it is better for search engine attention
- Email marketing is cost effective and efficient, and better with permission
- Twitter followers have given you permission to spam them, for a while
Make a Website Usable
- Having a website that operates the same as everyone elses, just means that most people will be able to use it – that’s good. You’re allowed to say different things though
- Bear in mind, most new visitors won’t land on your homepage
- Visitors who land deep inside a website, need to see where there are ‘in context’; so Breadcrumbs or highlighted tabbed menus please
- Scannable means short paragraphs
- Skimmable means bullet points and relevant headings
Convert Interest into Action
- Website visitors are engaging in a buying process
- The subject of the website is: “What’s in it for your visitor”
- Show visitors you have confidence in your website’s performance by updating it regularly
- Telling stories will show important things about you
- Look at your website through a trust filter. Photos, addresses, phone numbers, current customers, pricing,
- Websites are now two way communication tools – comments and feedback are golden
- What other people say about you is always more important than what you say about yourself
- Brevity is essential, be careful with the word ‘Levity’
- If you don’t ask people to do something, they might not do it. So why not leave us a message?.
Website Structure
- People arrive with questions, answer them all
- Long or short copy, depends on the function of the page
- Content Management Systems, mean you’re not ’stuck’ with something
Website Production
- If you’re re-designing a web site, then don’t abandon old URL’s
- Use editable websites so that everyone can contribute, avoiding bottlenecks
- Write first, tidy up later. Being perfect is a function of old, non editable websites, it’s more important to start quickly.
- Make website people accountable – count visits, pages, time spent and leads
- Realise website production should be a continuous activity, no website is ever finished
Website Design
- It has to be easy to read – easy fonts and dark text on a light background please
- Make information access easier than it is to exit via the google search bar
- Key terms should be text, not pictures
- Search