You don't get a second chance to make a first impression
Web design is usually the first stage of any project. At this point, the project is not a web site at all, but layers of pixels within a graphics package. The first goal to achieve at this stage is to create a design which is visually appealing. Studies have shown that it can take as little as 50 milliseconds for a browser to decide whether it likes your site. So if your site doesn't look good, the chances are it is not reaching its potential.
Once an appealing design has been produced, most web designers consider their job done. At Great White, once we have created a design the job is only half done. For a web site to be truly successful it needs to do all the following:
- Clearly shows what your company has to offer
- If the company offers a large number of products or services, the most important should be prominently displayed
- The site navigation needs to be clear and intuitive
- Points of contact need to be clearly visible
- Site should be simple, and not overly complicated
- Points of sales need to be simplistic and intuitive
- Site should not be cluttered with useless or marginal information
- Text should be inviting to read
It might sound simple, but how many sites do you see that have the above aspects while looking good at the some time? However, we do understand that not all web sites need to meet some/all of these aspects - some sites need to be more art than sales, some more sales than art.
Many sites suffer from lack of design variety, a lack of imagination and/or development skill. For this reason, we feel it is important to design individual sub-pages for some projects. These can help different aspects of your site feel fresh for new and returning visitors while keeping your brands throughout so as not to confuse potential customers.
