Everyday thousands of websites are being created based on the needs of website owners and not the needs of their visitors. Visitors are being ignored which is the biggest reason most websites are not successful; here are 5 ways to optimize your design:
1. Become the visitor
Put yourself in the visitor’s shoes. What would a visitor browsing your website want? The goal of your website should not just be to fulfill your needs, but also fulfill the visitors needs. A good way to figure out what a visitor would want is to survey a few people who are interested in your products and services and adjust your design to fit their needs as well as your needs. This does not always have to cost money, no reason why you can’t just ask a few of your friends.
2. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
If you look at some of the most successful websites on the web such as [Google](http://www.google.com), [Flickr](http://www.flickr.com), and [Blogger](http://www.blogger.com) they are all simple. Why add [bloated features](http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives2/point_and_shoot_software.php) to your website when 80 percent of your visitors will only use 20 percent of these features. Keep your goals as well as your visitors’ needs in mind when adding a feature.
3. Content is king
Make sure the content on the website is laid out in an effective way. If you just concentrate on the look and feel of a website and ignore the content, how high of a conversion rate do you think you will have? You need a concise, convincing message and solid [information architecture](http://jjg.net/ia/) if you want your visitors to buy your product or service. And most importantly, make sure that the content is readable and easy to understand.
4. It’s the little things that make a big difference
Every aspect of your website design needs to be thought out and scrutinized. Things such as [colors](http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/color/a/symbolism.htm), shapes and even gradients can make a big impact on the overall message. Using colors such as blue, green, turquoise, and silver can create a calm effect. Using rounded corners instead of hard edges within your design can enable a soft and personalized feeling. By combining color, shapes, pictures and effects together you can create a strong message that can help create a memorable experience for your visitors.
5. Guide your visitors
You don’t want your visitors clicking all over your website just to find a product. Reduce confusion and guide your visitors through links, navigation menus, and call to actions. Show them the right path so they only have to make a few clicks instead of 10 to buy a product. By reducing the amount of clicks your visitors make you will decrease their frustration and increase your conversion rate.
These methods of optimizing your design may seem simple, but in most cases they are overlooked. Give them a try; you might be shocked on how effective they can be and how much you can save on advertising by maximizing your design.
5 ways to optimize your design
I can’t believe I’ve found a goldmine. Your advise on web design is by far the best I’ve read recently. The effectiveness in the way you explain things aswell as your examples are changing the way I’ll be designing websites in the future.thnx
This is standard advice, nothing new really.
First of all..Neil, you are the man. You guys provide the best info for people interested in marketing. But I have a question about guiding the visitor through the site…
You talk about decreasing confusion and increasing conversion, which makes perfect sense. But in cases where the user’s goals and our goals do not match, where should the comprimise lie. For instance, if the visitor is looking for information, and the site is trying to sell a product that is somewhat related to that information. Do you guide the visitor to the information, or the product? If you guide the visitor to the product when they are looking for information, that seems like it would alienate them to a certain degree. But if your send them straight to the information, you’re losing out on sales. I know its not this cut and dry, but it seems to be a relatively large problem for content based sites…
It’s always nice to get a recap on the basics. Sometimes as designers/developers, we can get lost in a wave of features. Simplicity and content are indeed the ultimate king.
We also tend to forget that in most cases, our visitors do not know as much as we do about the site they are visiting.
In #2 did you mean “bloated features” in the link text?
Welcome to 2003. We don’t need a recapitulation of the common knowledge a webdesigner should have.
#2 and #3 are the biggies here. I’m all about simplicity ( it is very easy on the eyes, after all ) and focusing on content. People don’t come to your site because it’s pretty or has cool gadgets.
Ryan, you can try to tie them together. When you are providing information you can tie in your products and when you are selling products you can tie information into each product. As you stated this is not a cut and dry situation and depending on your site the solutions can vary.
Markus, by bloated features I meant unnecessary things such as flash graphics, Ajax search feature…
All good advice..I fine that the same things work for business having nothing to do with web sites…if you can put yourself in the customers shoes it can be a real eye opener..
I’d like more info on “Guide your visitors”
How can you guide your visitors without having annoying flashing text, or tacky images. I mean is there an easy and nice way to draw attention to what the visitor may be looking for?
Could you make your posts have a “printable” format? And put a link at the top or bottom of the post? Plllllleeeeeeeeaaaassseeee..
Slippy, here is an [example](http://www.lab-safe.com/how/) of how you can do it in a simplistic and semi graphic way.
… this ‘info’ needed its own web page? Shouldn’t you follow your own rules ie) #3 and 4.. (no content and gray scale yippie)
#2 on the other hand…
/goldclap…
Kudos on this sound advice! I have been party to many great web projects, many of which were very technologicially -savvy and design-focused, but my most popular site right now, YDP, is the simplest one out of all of them. I think people tend to forget that it is human nature that, the more you say, the less is heard. A flashy design fattened up by loads of features just makes people start tuning out. Currently, I give this type of simple marketing and creative advice to small and medium businesses. The reaction is always astounding: they are shocked that the little things work so well.
That being said, I must say that this is really not obvious advice as some may believe. Many designers are only looking to use the coolest technologies and display their skills, not fit the design with the message/culture. As a result, the web has become to many beautiful websites that all look the same so, in the end, they become commonplace.
Content is king and, as an advid proponent of written communication and a freelance copywriter, it is a message that I try to resound throughout all my advice to clients. Heck, look at MySpace as well. That site is full of bugs, uses a cookie-cutter mold, and is as simple as can get, yet it continues to grow in popularity.
The lesson: your packaging is not just in the physical presentation but in the message you convey with it. The content will, more often than not, set this message forth and, if your site is too loud, your message has already been compromised.
Again, kudos for this great little nook of wisdom!
Any successful web designer, and designer in general, should know these things. No one will be getting any more site-building commissions if they don’t take this into account. Honestly, if people don’t take these things into account while building a site, then they’re not a professional in the least.
not another one of these lists!
Pointing to blogger and saying it’s popular because it’s simple is laughable. You’re really out of touch.
Great advice Neil!
Dont forget to let people know about analysing their website traffic with a robust web analytics tool. Converting traffic is a continuous improvement exercise. As one monitors their traffic to see which pages they are landing on and which pages they are visiting, one is able to tweak the content and design of their site for ease of use.
The less barriers of entry to the checkout area, the higher the probablities of conversion. At the end of the day, it’s about converting traffic and making money.
Shouldn’t this page be dugg