Well written content is the first important factor for website success. The second important factor is visual presentation and representation of the content. A poorly designed website drives away customers, ruining the effort put into developing well-written content that places your website high in search engines. Dr. Gitte Lindgaard of Carleton University in Ottawa found that people judge websites in 50 milliseconds; less than the time it takes for the eye to blink.
Here are some simple guidelines for well written content that will improve your search engine rankings and keep visitors coming back:
- Motivate.
Design your site to meet specific user needs and goals. Use motivators to draw different user "personae" into specific parts of your site - User task flow.
Who are your users? What are their tasks and online environment? For a site to be usable, page flow must match workflow. - Architecture – it's 80% of usability.
Build an efficient navigational structure. Remember – if they can't find it in 3 clicks, they're gone. - Affordance means obvious
Make controls understandable. Avoid confusion between emblems, banners, and buttons. - Replicate Why reinvent the wheel? Use ergonomically designed templates for the most common 8-12 pages.
- Usability test along the way
Test early in design using low-fidelity prototypes. Don't wait until the end when it's too late. Know the technology limitations Identify and optimize for target browsers and user hardware. Test HTML, JavaScript, etc. for compatibility. - Know the technology limitations
Identify and optimize for target browsers and user hardware.Test HTML, JavaScript, etc for compatibility. - Know user tolerances
Users are impatient. Design for a 2-10 second maximum download. Reuse header graphics so they can load from cache. Avoid excessive scrolling. - Multimedia – be discriminating
Good animation attracts attention to specific information, then stops. Too much movement distracts, slowing reading and comprehension. - Use a stats package
Monitor traffic through your site. Which pages pique user interest? Which pages make users leave? Adjust your site according
