Website Design

The design of your Web site gives you the opportunity to show visitors why your company is set apart from your competition. Your business is unique, and you should present that individuality on your Web site.

You’ve probably invested a lot of time, money, and thought in developing your company's image through your business cards, brochures, and letterhead. Although you can use those themes, logos, and slogans on your Web site, the Web is an interactive medium that demands more from your collateral than traditional advertising.

The best sites use a design that capitalizes on the uniqueness of the Web. Although eye-catching graphics make each page more appealing, avoid too much clutter on your site.

Once you get started with your website you will want to gather content, graphics, and photographs. If you need ideas for your images, your Web Solutions International designer will help to give you suggestions and show you where to find stock graphics and photographs that best represent your company.

Navigation Buttons

Imagine entering a grocery store and finding that there are no signs that describe the items that can be found in each aisle. Even though the store might be organized, you would still spend a lot of time wandering aimlessly, looking for what you need. The same would be true for a Web site.

The navigation bar is the site's directory, a key element for making an efficient Web site.

A navigation bar appears on every page, and it is usually located at the top or on side. The bar includes navigation buttons, which are hypertext graphics that move you (when you click on them) from the current page to another page on your Web site.

These "directory" buttons should be available at all times so that a visitor can go from place to place on your site easily and quickly. The navigation allows a visitor to go back "home" at any time with little effort.

Navigation titles should be short and clear about the information that you will find if you click on them. The titles should be broad scoped to describe the major sections on your site, and they should help your customers find the important information on your site—such as Products and Services, About Us, or Contact Us—at any given time and from any given page. Use the Pages and Sections planning guide to determine the pages and sections that you will use on your site, and then decide the navigation titles.

Develop a compelling customer experience by following these guidelines:

No matter how flashy a Web site is or how many of the latest gimmicks it has, it is doomed if it has nothing to say.

What content will solve your customers' daily business challenges?

What are the top five actions you want a visitor to take while browsing your Web site?

What do customers need to know about your company to take action?

Does your site invite customers to contact you or make a purchase?

Does your site get responses from the right customers?

Is it easy for your customers to get to the information they need?