Besides that it should show the content in a straightforward, coherent way. However there are some essential elements of how a good established website should look like. We think there are three main features to have a good website. But we will also discuss other useful resources that can improve your website.
1. Content
Consistent value-added content is very important for a website. This content must be updated regularly to provoke that people return to your site. You also have to keep in mind what you stand for and what your target audience wants. This by only providing relevant information and not overload it with tons of extras. Clutter must be prevented, because research has shown that a cluttered page can be perceived as a negative feeling towards the site.
2. Community
It is not easy to build a sense of community. By offering constant new content it may attract people to come back and share common interests with each other. The website, the organisation, is the leader in this great effect it has on the quality of a website.
3. Usability
Disregarding content and interactivity, it is also very important that your website is easy to use. Within the limits a website contains because of the one-way communication, it is profound to have a clear navigation to go through your site and easily find the homepage. For instance, a search engine can send the person tot the end of an article that is spread over more pages.
However, there are two big disadvantages when creating long pages:
Web users have a limited attention span. They prefer sites that get to the point and to find information in a quick and easy way.
The real estate above the fold is more valuable than information below the fold for attracting and keeping users’ attention.
People surfing the web spend 80% of their time looking at information above the fold (the information which is directly viewable upon entering a website without scrolling down). Meaning that only 20% of the time is spent on information for which you need to scroll down. We can say that users will scroll below the fold if the information found above it is valuable enough
to read on.
The common scrolling behaviour looks like an F shaped pattern: intense viewing at the top of the page, moderate viewing at the middle and almost none at the bottom of the page.
Knowing this, it is important to adjust your website lay-out to this pattern. Placing the menu at the left side of you website will grab visitors’ attention quicker then placing it on the right side. While far less important information, such as the website’s policy can be placed at the bottom of the page.
Also, long download time for web pages should be avoided, otherwise people can loose their patience and your successful website can loose its purpose. At last it is important to keep the same structure for each page so it is again easy for the visitor to navigate through the website.
Other complementary factors
What is also often overlooked is the fact that a good, consist colour scheme can keep visitors longer on your website. The use of lighter colours and complementary colours are interpreted as a successful combination for people to stay longer on your website. To read more in detail about colour schemes we suggest you read the following article.
The use of a good typography is also part of a web design and necessary to communicate with your visitors. The use of the font should be pleasurable to look at and easy to choosing the right font is not easy. Many things need to be taken into consideration, such as: typeface, contrast, line length, alignment, emphasis, etc.
To learn more about Typography, Smashing Magazine wrote a great article on typography design, which you can read here.
Other methods to improve website quality
Like already explained in our previous post “The importance of E-marketing in SME’s, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving your website so more traffic will be generated to your website through search engines. The higher a site appears in search results the more visitors will go to that particular website.
Nowadays you can also hire a company to help you with your website. They are professional companies that can improve your website so it will rank higher in search engines.
Another resource to improve the quality of your website is Google Analytics. By using this free program you can check your website results and statistics (visitors, clicks, etc.) on a daily basis and improve it if necessary. Also Google AdWords, which is actually ‘online advertising by Google’, can be very effective.
Chaffey, D. and Smith, P.R. (2008) E-Marketing excellence: planning and optimizing your digital marketing. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, Elsevier.
Hernandez, B., Jimenez, J. and Martin, M. (2009) ‘Key Website factors in e-business strategy’. International Journal of Information Management; Oct2009, Vol. 29 Issue 5, p362–371, 10p
Chen, K. and Yen, D. (2004) ‘Improving the quality of online presence through interactivity’. Information & Management. Dec2004, Vol. 42 Issue 1, p217–226, 10p
Vorvoreanu, M. (2008) ‘Website Experience Analysis: A New Research Protocol for Studying Relationship Building on Corporate Websites’. Journal of Website Promotion; Vol. 3 Issue 3/4, p222–249, 28p
Lamberson, T. (2008) ‘How to Make a Website Work’. Broadcasting & Cable; Jun2008, Vol. 138 Issue 24, p30–30, 2/3p
Chen, T. (2009) ‘What Does Good Web Design Look Like’. Looks Good Design Magazine [online] available from <http://www.looks.gd/design/what-does-good-web-design-look-like> [29 March 2010]
Fronterix (2010) Succesful Websites [online] available from <http://www.fronterix.com/articles/successful.php> [29 March 2010]
Jakob Nielsen (2010) Scrolling and Attention [online] available from <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/scrolling-attention.html> [29 March 2010]
Martin, M. (2009) ‘Typographic Design Patterns and Best Practices’. Smashing Magazine [online] available from <http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/20/typographic-design-survey-best-practices-from-the-best-blogs/> [29 March 2010]
Samuel Marchal (2001) Creating good websites: Graphic Design2: Colour schemes [online] available from <http://www.leafdigital.com/class/lessons/graphicdesign2/2.html> [29 March 2010]
Website Design Basics (2008) Typography for websites [online] available from <http://www.websitedesignbasics.com/typography.html> [29 March 2010]
4 comments:
Your article was nicely written :) But besides Google Analytics and Google Adwords, aren't there other open source tools which are free to download and useful for web page editing and self-maintenance?
Hey Sophia,
There are indeed other open source tools which can be used to improve a website. To manage your whole system, Joomla and Drupal are effective tools to managa its website. Filezilla is one of the most know programmes to upload pictures and to edit one's website Kompozer can be used as well.
But we specifically choose to focus ourselves to the most important ones. Adwords and Analytics together with Search Engine Optimization are indispensable when managing a website.
The content, appearance and navigability of a website makes customers to have the right perception about a website and enhances their trust for the e-business
Very interesting! I work for 20 years in the Communication Department at KBC. We have different electronic media (KnowledgeBase, website, intranet). As you mention, the F-pattern is really important when writing for the web. We try to adjust our texts as much as possible. That's why all our communication is based upon the principles of Information Mapping (titles on the left - text on the right).
Kind regards,
Olga (Jeroen's mum)
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