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
