How to avoid a bad 1st web date by using good design principles.

We all have had bad web experiences just like having an awkward first date. We come into the meeting with certain expectations being met; like having good hygiene and being punctual, we get quickly get let down upon arrival when fundamental exceptions have not been met.

To understand the good, we will first analyze the bad. Many first dates can be compared to a first web visit, users expect a good first impression, a clean website that loads fast, if you miss these two, your missing the boat.

The average Internet user visits over 2500 web pages on any given month according to Nielsen ratings. The average bounce rate for any given product site is nearly 50%, which means nearly 1/2 your audience leaves your site the minute they land on it.

It?s your job to get your audience married to your brand, don?t send them on another bad blind date.

The Bad

Site Hygiene

Is your site clean and organized. Have you spent the time dusting off grammatical errors, decorated your site with great graphics and font treatments?

Load Times

In a world of information overload coupled with hurried schedules run amuck with ADD (Attention Digital Disorder), it?s critical to serve up information in a timely manner.

Crazy Color Schemes

Sorry guys, that red velvet suit popularized by NYC pimps (no offense to NYC pimps) but that bad suit just won?t cut it. Your dealing with an informed audience exposed to brands that have spent a significant amount of time on color heuristics, take some design cues from the pro?s and pick up your presentation style.

What can you do to make a great first impression?

Web Layout

You?ve given your date a meeting address, don?t make them search to find what they are looking for. Organize information into a natural reading structure, left to right is how we read, get the most important elements near the top left of the page. Search engines read the page in the same manner, it?s important to help search engines understand what your about in the 1st few menu items and sentences.

Clean and Compelling Graphics

The laws of attraction apply. Be want you want to attract. You sold yourself as the best of the bunch, you need to look the part. Spend the money and get good graphic design in place, have exceptional product photos, integrate type and pictures together to get you message across. Show up wearing a suit and flowers in hand, your date will know you mean business.

Social Media Integration

Take your date to a nice place and show them off to all your friends. An attractive website will get their attention. Use social media to get the word out. You just cut your 1st company Harlem Shake video, make it easy for users to share the experience on their social networks with social sharing buttons.

At the end of the day, it?s all about relationships. A good first impression will lead to a second date. Open up the conversation and share who you are, the rest of the world needs to know what your about before they decide to marry you, make it easy for them, you will find suitors lined up at your door step in no time.

David Fitzgerald | CEO | Full Throttle Interactive and Design, Inc.
Minneapolis based Web Design and Online Marketing Agency

Source: http://fullthrottledesignstudio.com/web-design-poor-dates/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=web-design-poor-dates

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