HOW TO MAKE A GOOD WEB SITE

[Web site tips...] [Web site resources...] [Search engines tips...] [Search engine resources...] [Shareware tips and resources...]

The Web site is your showcase: it is very important for your business. Here we collect a lot of links useful for improving your Web site. But first of all you should read the following ten tips for making a good Web site, courtesy of Aldo Ghigliano, President, Visual Vision.

1) THINK TO USERS - your Web site has to be, above everything else, user friendly. Please think to “sales friendliness” and “search engines friendliness” only after this has been addressed;

2) CHOOSE THE RIGHT TOOL - make the right choice for the Web Publishing software: if you have a plain site with lot of pages, then choose an editor that can manage page sets and links fast. If database-generated, choose something with built-in DB interface and so on...; this will save you a lot of time later; plan ahead.

3) NO MAZES - the structure has to be linear and easy to navigate; if you have a lot of menus, and you know how to use frames, please use them (remember to include <NOFRAME> tags for search engines);

4) KEEP IT FAST - the whole site must load fast; try to keep each page under 40K. This doesn’t mean you should avoid using a lot of images, but that they have to be optimized in size;

5) THE LOOK COUNTS - the look is important. If you can afford it, hire a professional; if not, try to keep all simple and be consistent throughout the site;

6) DON’T “OPTIMIZE” - avoid pages “optimized” for a fixed resolution: your pages should look well from 640 to 1024 pixel width; If a professional designs a site for 800x600 he’s not so “professional”...;

7) CAN THEY READ IT? - be sure you use well contrasted colors; use at most two different fonts, one for titles, one for text; use only Arial, Times New Roman or Courier; No rainbows and, again, be consistent: your site should not look as though it's been built by kids;

8) YOU DON’T NEED DECOYS - do not use backgrounds or frames unless you know what you’re doing; do not use Java Applets, Flash and any other plugin that may not work and so bother users;

9) LET’S GET TO THE POINT - explain benefits rather than features; put buy buttons rather than download links; ask your visitors for action; edit, edit and edit any page.

10) TEST IT - make sure your site is tested by a real user, and use his feedback to improve;

Why we`re different

We know more than just usability and accessibility

We`re fully aware that usability and accessibility are just two parts of your web strategy, alongside activities such as search engine optimisation, design, branding, technical requirements etc. As such, Webcredible has knowledge of all aspects of large website management. We do everything we can to understand any constraints and objectives that fall outside the scope of usability and accessibility.

Webcredible additionally has expertise in search engine optimisation ( SEO) and everything we do takes SEO into account. Indeed the Webcredible website receives 5000 site visitors every day. We would never recommend a usability or accessibility improvement that directly conflicts with SEO requirements; rather, we would work towards a win-win-win solution that`s good for both usability, accessibility and SEO.

We`re passionate about what we do

Here at Webcredible we love what we do and only employ people who are exceptionally passionate about their job. Consultants have extensive experience, with many possessing a Masters degree in Human Computer Interaction. (You can meet our team on this website.)

Despite this deep level of knowledge and education, Webcredible always communicates in a jargon-free and user-friendly format, both written and oral. (Download a brief extract from a sample report and see for yourself.)

You won`t have to deal with project managers

Webcredible doesn`t have any project managers. It`s not that we don`t like them - it`s just that we don`t need them. At Webcredible everybody takes personal responsibility for their work. Consultants are always here to help each other, but everyone is responsible and accountable for their own time, their own project, and their own work. By operating this way, your main point of contact is someone who fully understands the project and can address your concerns and questions straightaway.

You`ll enjoy working with us

We`re highly proactive, with a strong ethic of integrity, and view all relationships with clients as long-term. We`ll never recommend any course of action to you that we believe to not be in your best interests. We`ll even recommend you against taking actions you wish to take, if we believe that you`ll be wasting your time and/or money.

Because we don`t believe in project managers, your main point of contact will always be the senior consultant working on your project. We`re a small, friendly team, so if your main contact is out of the office another consultant will always be there to talk with you.

Client-agency communications are enjoyable for both parties and Webcredible is always proactive in trying to recommend practical, actionable and jargon-free solutions. With in-house technical knowledge, and our desire to deeply understand your needs and goals, advice and recommendations are always realistic, actionable and do-able.

We believe in knowledge sharing so you`ll learn a lot from us

Webcredible has a strong commitment to knowledge sharing - we`re experts in what we do and we want everyone to know this. By sharing our knowledge in this way, it means we`re constantly pushing ourselves to keep learning and grow our expertise even further. Ultimately, this means we`re able to offer better solutions to our clients.

We run eight training courses a month on average, sharing our expertise with about 50 participants each month. Additionally we`re regular public speakers on usability and accessibility, always explaining how to achieve high levels of usability and accessibility.

We`ve also published over 100 research articles and a number of white papers on this website (and hundreds of other websites).

We belong to professional bodies

Webcredible is a member in good standing of the following organisations:

What next?

Please contact us by phone on 0870 242 6095 or by e-mail at info at webcredible.co.uk . We`ll discuss your website needs and requirements with no pushy sales pitch and no obligation to you.