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[W177]Web Design And Marketing

by Scott Lindsay, Sco

A blind man was sitting on a street corner and a sign had been placed before the man that read, ?I'm blind, please help.? In front of the sign was a hat with a few coins shared by those passing by.

A marketing guru was walking by and noticed the man sitting there. She spoke a few words to the man and tossed in a few coins. Then she took the sign turned it over and wrote something on the back of the sign and placed it back in its spot with her own message on display.

When she came back later in the day she noticed that the hat was nearly filled with bills and coins. When she voiced her amazement, the man turned toward her and said, ?You were the one that changed my sign.?

?Yes, I was,? she admitted.

?Please. What does it say?? he asked.

?The autumn colors are changing and I can't see it.?

Can you see how the difference in marketing allowed those who passed by to discover they had a way to identify with the man when a simple ?Please Help? sign did very little to motivate them to action.

This is often why so many businesses hire advertising agents, copywriters and freelance writers to help them achieve a website that helps touch consumers on a different level than just saying, ?This site carries a wide selection of really good stuff.?

Sometimes good marketing is simply finding a new way to say something that generally comes across as either trite or clich?.

Typically when site design is discussed there is often the knee jerk reaction that leans toward simply ?throwing? text together that can fill the newly created pages. The design often relies heavily on graphics without paying similar attention to what is actually being conveyed to site visitors.

If you have an existing site you may want to personally review the pages or hire someone who can help you. This is a good idea to locate outdated and inaccurate information as well as descriptions that are not especially helpful to your marketing goals.

The more you can connect with your customers through potent marketing the better your conversion rates. Connecting with your customer with consumer-centric marketing practices actually invites a greater level of trust and patronage from those customers.

This doesn't mean you toy with their emotions, you simply learn to speak a language that is personal and inviting to your site visitor.

Don't run your site like some Middle School students who ring your doorbell and pass you a flyer while saying, ?You don't want to buy any magazine subscriptions? Do you??

When you give your customer an easy out ? they'll take it. Too many sites either portray something that they aren't sure is even worth your time or they never get to the point of asking for your business.

Market effectively, give a call to action, and demonstrate confidence in what you have to sell and your website design will be the catalyst for improved and long-term sales.

As people “browse” the Web, they “land” on a page and “navigate” on a website. To find their way around they need a “navigation” system. Navigation is as important for web design as for a real life drive: when you drive on a new road you want to see clear marked destinations, exits and parking lots. You want to know where you are and where you go. So do your visitors. Fail to provide a clear road map and they will go back to where they came from. Navigation should be clear and simple. Or better: standard. That means: don't go around renaming buttons. Use “home” for your index; not “back to base”. Although this “back to base” is rather clear, not all the web users are in the mood for riddles, nor do they have the time to start learning your rules, your style, or your symbols.

There are three major types of navigation: global, local and hierarchical.

Web designers use global navigation for medium-sized and small websites to categorize the main points of interest. Hierarchical navigation refers to large websites – such as web directories, article directories, news portals and so on. This approach is somehow confusing for web novices: they cannot really find their way, especially when the navigational structure is not clear (some web designers omit important navigational elements such as “you are here”, “back”, “next page” etc.)

One important note about local navigation: it works great when you need cross traffic. You could use embedded links to lead your visitors to information that is somewhere else on your website or on a different website. But if you need to link to another website use a target=”_blank” approach that will open the link in a new window. That's how the visitors will not lose the path back to your website.

Many times web designers use a mix of the three navigational styles, depending on the size of a website, its categories and the importance of these categories. As a rule all sites have a global navigation principle: the navigation bar. Standard placements of the navigation bar are on the top or along the left side of the screen. Some designers place the nav bar on the right side – but users are not really familiar with this approach. The worse practice is promoted by flash designers who ignore web usability standards and make the visitors “guess” where the links are.

No matter where you want to place the nav bar, remember: keep it simple. Take a look at the websites of big corporations. For example Philips placed the nav bar at the top to define the main categories and uses a java script to help users navigate to particular points of interest. On secondary pages Philips is using a left navigation bar. All in one, the web designers that created the website for Philips used all three major types of navigation, but the design respects one radical principle: “Sense and simplicity”. That's right: Philips' slogan applies perfectly as a fundamental rule when it comes to web design.

Article Source : Disadvantages Of Standalone Computers

Scott Lindsay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Payday Loans, Computers and The Internet and Mens Health. Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at:. Scott Lindsay's top article generates over 1830000 views. to your Favourites.