Puzzle Pieces of Smart User-Centered Design

The goal is to provide for the needs of all your potential users, adapting Web technology to their expectations and never requiring readers to conform to an interface that places unnecessary obstacles in their paths. – Web Style Guide

The question is, how should someone go about reaching a goal that seems so daunting to the inexperienced web person? Consider our every day interactions with various web sites that we frequent. Better yet, open a new window, visit a web site that you don’t frequent, and browse around for a minute or so. Can you browse at the same speed and ease as your favorite web site? If so, then that web site has succeeded in designing a well-planned user interface. If not, then this article aims to cover a few specific reasons why you had some troubles. And it’s not your fault; it’s the designer’s.

Content To Boost Search Engine Ratings

So how do you get the ball rolling on finding quality SEO keywords? Easy! Head right on over to the search engine leader, Google, and take advantage of their free tool: Google Keyword Tool. By taking note of pertinent statistics supplied on the words that best describes your website, you’ll have a chance to not only plan your website’s overall niche from the outset, but assure yourself that you are a strong competitor among thousands. And guess what? They can and should be included when securing your domain name. This way, you only increase your success potential ratio by having your highest ranked keyword phrase as your website’s hand-picked URL!

But that is only the beginning to boosting your website’s search engine rating if you are planning on opening a fresh domain.

Your Digital Space Matters

In owning a small business, one may aspire to eventually have that snazzy building in a bustling location. While that may may not be immediately attainable, on-line is where the real estate battle is not won by a pricey physical location. Millions of potential customers from nearly every demographic spend an increasing amount time on the Internet each week. And for some demographics [ages 14-28] more time is spent on the internet than with any other form of media.

Next, consider that 8 of 10 people look to the internet first for information. Most could say that they “check out” a business on-line when making their decision about whether or not to do business with them. This means that the chances of someone “visiting” your website and determining the status, success, and vibrancy of your business, products or services is much more likely than someone walking into your physical building seeking more information. If your website is not targeting and communicating effectively, then you have already lost the majority of your potential audience that you are marketing towards. It is no accident that users equate visiting a web site with visiting the actual business it represents. So you want an architecturally significant building in the center of town with beautifully landscaped grounds and a lobby that drops the jaw of clients and competitors alike – How good is your Web site?