On The Net - Computing News

with Chris Goh

Website Design

My architect recently told me that the majority of his business now comes from the Internet. I'm a case in point - I stumbled into his website after visiting several others and was impressed by the quality of his work. Now we're doing business.

When people first begin developing a website they try and put in as much information as they can. It's almost like that first blush of love - all the passion sometimes leads you to overdo things. But there are some key things the most successful websites have in common - first up, they are simple, have content the people want to read and it has to be current.

In spite of (or perhaps because of) increasing credit card fraud, electronic commerce is finding a strong niche as a means of doing business. Electronic commerce isn't just online transactions. It's the whole process of convincing a person that you have what they want, and then making the sale. Many people won't buy online, preferring instead to research online and follow up with a phone call and/or visit.

So how do you make your website work? You don't need fancy pictures. Simple colours and plenty of white space will make the site look professional.

And as regular readers will know, the first step of Goh's philosophy is to establish trust. Don't try and force a sale on the first page. Give customers room to make choices - that helps them feel in control. The next issue to consider is the use of navigation and buttons. It's very easy to make uncomplicated buttons using the current web design tools. They don't have to be lavish, rotate or say 'press me' - all they need to explain is what they do.

When you start to build a site, establish the key areas and always have the following worked out: Contacts (for how to get in touch with you, preferably with an address); About us, that establishes who and what you are as an organisation or individual and; Help or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - the questions you think interested customers may ask of you.

The most difficult part then is the content. As I said before, trust is the key to selling online. Some use testimonials from customers (which, alas, can be easily faked). Others show certification, which is quite good especially in establishing quality. Other good selling tools include small shots of your product range and pictures of your physical shop or manufacturing plant and processes. It helps show customers you are 'real', rather than some online fantasy. Again, it doesn't need to be excessive.

When it comes to 'fresh' information, many sites include a 'last update' label, featuring the date on the page. It's very good, if you actually update your pages regularly, but can make you look stale if you don't.

The rest of the design boils down to personal preference, but is also dependant on what you're selling/offering.

I've been developing web pages for a decade and if I've learnt one thing, it's that you can't please all the people all of the time.

If all else fails, find a website design you like and copy it - but make sure they're a successful business if you want your site to succeed too.

Hotsites

www.planetphotoshop.com/tutorials_web.html

On the subject of web design, this is a good place to learn some simple tricks to make your pages look better, ranging from using Photoshop to streamline and improve pages, to creating animated banners with Imageready. It also offers advice on how to make text look sharper on your webpage and what color depth to use for the web.

www.actionscript.org/tutorials.shtml

Many web developers now use Flash. Some think they're quite good at it, but the real test is whether they can cut code using the native language of Flash, Action Script. If you want to be a top web developer, have a look at some of these Action Script tutorials and you'll know what I'm talking about.

www.developer.com

Want to be more advanced and start building some sites that are dynamic? Most developers start here, pinch a few source codes and learn what to do through a few tutorials. It changes how they see websites.