1. Easy navigation – Where are the buttons? Keep the navigation clear and easy to use, so your visitors don’t have to hunt for it.
2. Consistent design – Make sure all your pages look like they belong to the same website, so visitors don’t get confused thinking they have left the site. It is always easy to tell which websites have been designed by amateur developers, as sentences include a mixture of colours and fonts, and some are left-justified, while others are centred. This can distract the visitor, which can result in them leaving your site.
3. Visible contact information – You want people to contact you, so make sure all your contact information is easy to find.
4. Consider your brand – The design of the website should relate to the company’s image and benefits of the services and products provided.
5. Correct spelling – Errors in spelling and grammar reflect badly upon the organisation as well as the web designer.
6. Images should not be too large – Not everyone has access to broadband Internet, and time is precious. If a visitor has to wait too long for images to load, they will leave.
7. Don’t be too flash – Flash and animated graphics are fun when applied correctly, however, ensure you don’t go overload on them. As an example, how many times have you clicked “Skip intro”?
8. No horizontal scrolling – We are used to scrolling vertically, but no visitor should have to scroll horizontally. This creates a lot of confusion.
9. Not too much copy or imagery – visitors want to access information quickly, so don’t overwhelm them with too much copy or imagery.
10. Finally…keep it up to date – as with fashion, websites date and the information can become irrelevant and no longer reflect your company accurately.