Web Design & Usability

Tooling around with web sites and web design can be a fun hobby…but what if we actually need to make some money with this web thingy?  How many sites do you go to only to find yourself leaving within minutes, even seconds?  Too many!  It takes more than just flash design to keep people on your site. Here are a few points that you should try to cover when designing for ROI:

·         Clearly define what the site is for / what the company does

·         Guide user to logical steps

o   Users should never be asking “How do I sign up?”

o   Create a flow that will help the user navigate

·         Don’t be sketchy

o   Make the site look professional and trustworthy

o   Include security for sensitive user inputs

·         Friendly Useful Forms

o   Eliminate unnecessary fields

o   Perform client side validations for immediate responses (yes you should still do server side validations)

o   Make sure the form accomplishes its goal (you probably do not need to know their coding skills if you are sending them a cooking newsletter)