Friday, November 21, 2008

Website Design Standards & Usability

Today, your website may be the initial point of contact for a potential customer. Your company is being judged by its website and these potential customers are only a click away from your competitors' sites. Internet users have many options and they're not willing to settle for anything but the best.

Website usability is about designing your website in such a way that website users can find what they're looking for quickly and efficiently. Users have gradually become accustomed to particular layouts and phrases on the Internet. Web pages need to be designed so that they download quickly, information needs to be easy to retrieve, and restrictions must not be placed on users.

It takes talent and understanding to formulate a successful website design. Once users get to your website, your site must be informative, attractive, and intuitive. Design should follow function; ultimately if your website can provide the information, supply the product, or perform some other function effectively and efficiently you will turn these visitors into customers now and in the future.