Archive on the Web

If you have heard the saying that two sets of eyes are better than one it is very true when it comes to web design. Many companies online fail because they don’t do quality assurance on their site. Quality assurance is important to detect errors, come up with new ideas, and more.

Quality assurance is maintaining the quality of any product. Your online business is essentially a product but it is also a store. Your online store is much like the product or service you are selling and you have to ensure it is fully functional and works the way it should. Every page has links and functionality that is supposed to do something. If these things don’t work it can be the reason you are failing online.

Many businesses fail on the Internet because they build a website and walk away. They make the site live and they don’t look at it again. They tell people about their website and they hype it up but they don’t realize most of the functionality doesn’t work. They might go to a few links and find they work and then assume the rest of the site works. It is very important to have many people sit down and click through every page of the website to ensure that it is fully functional. If you sell Christmas trees and the link to buy the artificial Christmas trees is pointing to wreaths it will ensure you don’t sell any of your artificial Christmas trees.

Quality assurance not only checks for broken links but it also ensures that your website works with other browsers. You want your online business to work with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox, and more. The more browsers your site works with the more people around the world can see it. You also want your online business to be functional on a Mac and a PC both. If you code your site on your own then you will need quality assurance for this issue more than any other.

When you use people to help you with quality assurance they often come up with good ideas that can help you integrate new things into your site. Your company website may be fully functional but could use a little more. It is always a good thing to get a perspective from the outside or another person who is surfing through your site. They can tell you what they like, what they don’t like, and things they would like to see.

Quality assurance on your website is as important as it is for the product you sell. You need to be sure that your virtual store works so people can purchase your products and services. If it is not functional then it may be your downfall. You can also get really good ideas from people when you have the surf through your site and check it out. You should never make a website go live on the Internet without providing proper quality assurance. This doesn’t mean you. Have some people who do not know the site click around.

Article source: http://www.archiveontheweb.com/blog/quality-assurance-and-web-design/

When you design a website photos are important. There are many things to think about when you add photos and these considerations include legal issues, relevance, appeal, and more.

When you have a website it is important to add photos. Photos are important for many reasons. The primary reason is because they keep the reader interested. They also give an immediate idea what your site is about. If a customer goes to your online website and they find only text to read they will go somewhere else. No one wants to read and read online. Give the users a .pdf file they can download and read later if you have a lot to say. Add photos and maintain their interest.

Legal issues are very important when it comes to adding photos to your online business. If you see a cool photo online of artificial Christmas trees you want to add to your site you had better get permission from the owner of the photo. You cannot just copy and paste a photo on your site. This will get you into legal trouble and it is considered theft. The best photos are the ones you take yourself of your own products. If you sell artificial Christmas trees then get a digital camera and take your own pictures and add them to your site.

Another thing to think about when it comes to pictures and designing your website is the relevance of the photos. If you sell candles and you have photos of artificial Christmas trees then it won’t make sense to the customers. Be sure you have photos of the products you sell. Also, if you have a retail site, no one will purchase an item they cannot see a picture of and have the opportunity to view first. They would have to trust you and that won’t happen. Provide photos of all items you have for sale on your online business.

When you place photos on your site be sure they are appealing to the customer. Don’t let photos be grotesque or too bright for the eyes. Be sure photos are cool looking, intriguing, and pleasing for someone to look at. You want to create an interest with a photo and keep the customer interested and maybe clicking on the ‘buy now’ button. If you have photos on your site that are small then you should give the users the ability to click on the photo to see a bigger picture in another window. If they cannot view the item up close they may be reluctant to buy the product also.

There are many things you need to consider when it comes to designing your website and using pictures. If you don’t have any pictures then get the camera out and start adding a bunch now. Create an interest for your customers to what you are all about. Photos should be legal, appealing, and functional if they are small. An amazing photo of a product may be the reason it sells so successfully.

Article source: http://www.archiveontheweb.com/blog/considerations-with-pictures-and-web-design/

Web navigation is the backbone of your website – the easier it is to navigate your website, the easier your website is to use and the more likely it is that readers will stick around or even return to your site. It’s no wonder that navigation is considered so important by any good web design company. Nothing else determines customer satisfaction with your web site quite so much. In order to make sure that navigation on your site is seamless, you need to:

1) Make your web navigation predictable. Your navigation menu or bar should look the same and be located in the same spot on each web page of your site. The order of links should be the same, too – If you have “About us,” “Why Us,” “Contact Us,” and “Order from Us” on your home page, do not have “Why Us,” “Contact Us,” “About us,” and “Order from Us” on another page.

2) Base your web navigation on FAQs. When your readers come to your website, what are they asking themselves? Are they wondering how to contact you? Are they wondering where to order your products? Write down the questions customers ask most often about your business and covert these into links to use on your navigation menu or navigation bar. If you are not sure what customers are asking about your company, do some market research before hiring a web design company.

3) Use the right keywords. The right keywords can help drive search engine traffic to your website. You must do keyword research and consult with a reputable web design company to learn how to use keywords to get the best results possible for your site.

4) Test and re-test. The secret to great web design is feedback. Your readers and website viewers are the only ones who can tell you whether your website is working. Conduct polls and other market research. Ask what customers love and hate about your site and work to provide more of what your visitors want. Also, make sure that you test your web site on different computers. Does your site load correctly on mobile devices, larger monitors, smaller monitors, Linux computers, Macs, PCs, and Internet Café computers (which tend to be older and which may have slower internet connections)? If your website looks funny or fails to load in these conditions, simplify it. Many of your customers may be using different Internet browsers, operating systems, and computers to access your website. You want all of these viewers to be able to see your content properly.

5) Use a site map and search feature – but use it wisely. A site map should not replace a shoddy navigation menu, but a site map in the right place can help website visitors gain more control over your website. Position a link to your website site map at the bottom of each page and make sure that your site map includes all your website’s pages, neatly organized. Check the links on this page often.

Whether you are working with a web design company or creating your website yourself, your website has to not only look good but it also has to be fully functional and even effective. Even the most beautiful website will not get much traffic if an audience cannot figure out how to find information or content on the site. To figure out whether your web design is making your website unusable, ask:

1) What are the visuals like? If your graphics and photos overlap with your words, your viewers are going to have a hard time reading your content. Save watermarks for your print materials. Make your content clear and clutter-free.

2) Is your website simple enough? If your website is too busy with graphics, animation, and color, it will be hard to read. A simple, clean design is always best. One good test is to remove each item on your web site, one by one – do you miss each item? You may find that you can get rid of much of your website and actually improve your site in doing so.

3) What are the distractions on your website? On each page of your site, ask yourself where your eye is drawn first. If that item does not actively promote your company or service, it is a distraction. Tone it down or get rid of it.

4) What is your navigation like? Is your navigation menu direct, clear, and easy to use? Do you have easy-to-find links to the pages your readers are most interested in? Does your navigation menu or navigation bar look the same on each page? Test your navigation system by asking your readers what they think. Tweak the navigation until it works well. Of course, any broken links in your navigation menu (or anywhere else) need to be fixed at once.

5) Are you including the content you should be including? You should only look one place for your content – your readers. What do they want to see and read? That should be your only consideration when deciding what to include on your site.

6) Do you try to do too much? Your website should have one aim. Your website should be there to inform clients about your company, to get clients to come to your offices, or to get customers to order your products or services online. If you try to do all three with one site, you will just confuse readers. Pick one goal for your website. If you want to achieve more than one goal, consider setting up more than one site.