In the early days of the internet, websites were very much the realm of the hobbyist or computer enthusiast. However, as the full potential of the World Wide Web was realised, it became increasingly commercialised, and competitive to boot. There are now well over 300 million websites worldwide, and an estimated one trillion pages of content. The scale of the commercialised internet market is indeed beyond comprehension. It has, therefore, become quite a challenge to ensure that a small business website stands out from the crowd, and achieves the traffic figures that site owners are seeking.
A competitive World Wide Web – meeting the challenge
An effective way of meeting this challenge is to not get too caught up pursuing a single solution. For instance, concentrating on aggressive marketing, at the expense of web design, may yield some quick fix results, but will not necessarily produce a steady stream of site visits in the long term. After all, when visitors arrive at a website, it has to live up to the expectations generated by the marketing. If it falls short in significant areas (it may have, for instance, a messy navigation), then users will be far less likely to return. Indeed with a poor, ragged web design, the site will, most likely, run out of steam quite quickly and enter a semi-moribund state.
The balanced approach
It is far preferable to take a balanced approach, in which equal amounts of attention are paid to both web design and marketing. Indeed, an integrated, organic approach is by the far most effective, when it comes to future-proofing a website.
Web design tips
Here are some quick tips for a site owner to bear in mind when giving their requirements to a web development business.
First and foremost, specify that the finished product that should encapsulate the vision for a website. Ideally, the website will express on every page, both visually and verbally, the mission statement for the business it represents. This will help the site establish its online individuality, and therefore give it a greater chance when competing for search result rankings.
Moreover, the website design should be user-friendly. It should be easy to get around. Users should not be bombarded with links or be sent up blind alleys. Every page should be able to justify itself in the overall scheme of things; and users should never feel lost when on that particular page. They always have the assurance that they can get back to a previous page or return to the home page.
The site will benefit from a site map, and this should always be included as part of the finished package. The site map is uploaded to major search engines, ensuring that the website will be correctly and efficiently indexed. This, again, helps with search engine result rankings.
Finally, the designer should make sure that page titles include high-priority search engine keywords; as well as ensuring the targeted distribution of keywords around other areas of the site.