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.

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.