Attention to your audience. It is very important to keep in mind the kind of audience you want for your website. You want your site to target your favorite kind of customers. In most cases, you'll want your site to be easy to navigate, quick to load, and useful for your clients and potential clients. As we design your site together, it is imperative to keep in mind your audience.
Simplicity and good design. For a site to look professional, it must be simple to use and pleasing to the eye. The menus should be easy to use and your users should be able to get to the information they need in no more than three clicks of a mouse (although there are exceptions to any design rule when thinking about your specific customers). The layout should be appealing. You probably should not have blinking text, disorganized links, or automatic sounds. Your photos should be of quality and well placed. It should have a cohesive look and reflect the personality and professionalism of your company.
Robust. Your site should load correctly every time, in the majors browsers on both Macs and IBM compatible PCs. This is no small task as there are so many ways to browse the internet! Your site will be checked and rechecked - for programming errors, layout issues, load time, and spelling errors.
More than an online brochure. Do you need a website? Why would you create a website when you already have a yellow pages ad and three-panel, color brochures? The internet is more than a yellow page ad or an online brochure. The spirit of the internet is free and up to date information. So although you would include yellow page and brochure information on your website, your website should have more than that. It should offer something free to the viewer - useful information or advice - something to build their trust and keep them coming back to your website. That's one of the ways you can make your website work for you.
You own your design. Many web designers own your design so that if you want to change to another designer, you are not allowed to use the design they created. I will give you a CD of complete files used in your website, so that if you choose to have another designer alter your site, or you want to give it a try, you will have all the files necessary to do so. (Just keep in mind that I do charge to fix it for you!)
Power in your hands. Many web designers must do updates for you. I like to put the power in your hands by designing a website that you can update yourself by using Macromedia Contribute version 2.0. Macromedia Contribute is a software product that you install on your computer (your computer must have an internet connection for it to work). You can use Contribute to edit the text and pictures on your website like you would a Microsoft Word document - without the risk of messing up the design of the site! If you can do the updating easily yourself, you are more likely to keep your site up to date. (If you don't want the hassle, I can also do the updating for you. I just like to accommodate small business "do-it-yourselfers". )
