Just the FAQs Blog

Archive for the ‘Websites’ Category

The front page of your site is the single most important virtual real estate you own. Research shows that you have less than seven seconds to capture your audience. If they don’t respond well to the theme of your site or, if they don’t immediately find what they’re looking for, it’s likely they will click away to another site.

Every component of marketing hinges on knowing your target audience. With site design, that means choosing a theme along the continuum between fashion and function that best suits your content and engages your readers.

At one end of the continuum is fashion. These themes are visually stunning but usually contain very little content. If your audience responds well to style, you want a theme designed to capture their interest visually with very little text.

At the other end of the continuum is function. These themes are heavy on content with splashes of small graphics to move the eye through the page and draw interest to certain areas.

Sites that are all content usually don’t get read much these days. Even news sites that should be heavy on content, like msnbc.com, have struck a balance between fashion and function that both entertains and informs their audience.

There are a few other important factors in choosing your theme that fall more toward function. The number one complaint among surfers about poorly designed sites is hard-to-find navigation. They want to click through the site but get frustrated trying to find the links.

Another factor is SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. While a splashy flash animation is visually captivating, if it’s the first or only thing on your front page, your SEO is compromised. Lack of keywords in your content will also negatively impact your SEO.

Before choosing a new design theme, do your homework. Search for other sites that cater to your target audience. Look for how they balance fashion and function and then consider how you emulate that technique with your own design.

Click here for more info on creating a site that works.

Like this post? Share it on Twitter and Facebook by clicking the button below.

While many site owners are concerned about plagiarism and hackers, the fact is, that’s not how they get mugged. Believe it or not, most site owners don’t actually own their site including the content, graphics, the copyright or even their domain name.

Most website designers are honest people; however, they have to compete with thousands of other designers for business. When a potential client surfs online for a designer they are looking for two things, which are price and ease.

The ease comes from hiring someone who will take care of all the technical details by offering all-in-one packages that include purchase and setup of the domain and hosting along with the site design. Designers turn a profit on this setup by purchasing a large space on a host server and then reselling it to clients. They make enough profit on design and hosting to offer the domain name for free, which they usually obtain at a volume discount in the first place.

Why is all of this bad for the client? In short, the client pays for something they don’t actually own. Because of the way the package is set up, the designer cannot disclose the security information for the hosting or the domain name.

To protect themselves, designers usually retain the copyright to a site they design as well. That also includes all of the custom graphics and may include the content.

If the client ever has a falling out with the designer, or wants to change designers or hosts, they may suddenly find that they have no site at all. Because the designer is listed as the owner of the site, the hosting, and the domain, they can remove the site from public view at will and the client has no way to retrieve it.

The bottom line is that you can take some steps to protect yourself.

If you plan to hire a designer, consult with them to specify the host and server type that will work best with your site.

- Look for a host that includes a free domain.
- Obtain your own domain name and hosting even if doing so costs more.
- List yourself as the owner and your designer as the technical contact.
- Back up your site. If you’re on WordPress, use the Backup Plugin to download your site to your computer. If you have a static site, get a free FTP program and make a backup of your site on your own computer or ask your designer to provide you with a hard copy on CD.

More info on protecting your site.

Like this post? Share it on Twitter and Facebook by clicking the button below.