Would you buy meat from a grocery store that left the bad meat in
with the good meat or wasn’t clean? Would you buy a car from a
sales lot that had totaled automobiles on the front lot? I
wouldn’t and neither would you. Your website is your grocery
store, your car lot. You must have an atmosphere that is pleasing
to buyers. One, that tells that buyer that you are not an
amateur, but instead a trained, seasoned professional. Your site
is a direct reflection of your product and that is why that
having a well designed website can make or break your sales.

The first thing to keep in mind when designing your website, is
“surfability”. Take a few minutes a look around at several web
pages. What makes them appealing? Were there some that you closed
out of immediately? Why? Take notes and do your research. Keep in
mind that when a person visits your site they have a goal in
mind. They are either seeking information or shopping for a
product. Give the person what they want without having to search
for it. Be sure that all the information on your site is relevant
to your product. Make the buyer think that they need your product
to solve their problem.

Your main page serves a very specific purpose. It should be an
avenue by which the customer can shop your site. It should be
easy to view and load very quickly. This is your first impression
and we all know that first impressions can either close the deal
or loose the deal. Make it simple. It is best to have links that
are easily viewable by the reader that will navigate them to
where they want to be. Tables are often a great choice when
deciding on a way to design the main page of your site. Your main
page should load very quickly, chances are if it takes the page
more than ten seconds to load even on a 56k modem, the customer
will click away to save time, hoping to find the information or
product elsewhere. To increase the loading speed of your main
page you should avoid large graphics or excessive graphics. To
many banners or special effects can cause a page to load slowly
as well.

To make your web site more appealing to the eyes, you should
stick to mild colors. If your site is a content site where the
user will be doing a lot of reading, it is best to stick to black
and white. Color can be added when using tables, as a way to
brighten up the page, but remember to keep the overall look of
the page professional and appealing to the audience that will be
visiting most often. Since screen resolutions vary among
monitors, it is a good idea to set the pixels to a standard
800×600. You may also choose to set the tables in your web page
to span a percentage of the page rather than a set number of
inches. This will be sure to accommodate all screen sizes. You
should remember that a lot of Internet users will not use the
same browser as you, and therefore you should be sure that your
site looks as good on other browsers as it does your own. You can
do this by downloading several browsers through which to look at
your page.

Be aware of the fact that the overall look of your website is a
way to make money. The appearance of the site, if designed
properly, can be an excellent marketing strategy for your product
or service.