Blogs for Entrepreneurs
Graphical Impact
The more of graphical impact that a page has, the lower its bounce rate.
Bounce rate is a statistic that tells you how many people arrived at a page, and immediately left, without further examination of the page content.
Another phrase that is often used in connection with this concept, is ‘stickiness’.
The stickiness of a page determines its bounce rate, and also the length of time that a visitor spends on the page.
In general more time a visitor stays on a page, the more likely they are to ‘sign up’ or ‘buy something’ or other wise ‘convert’.
Text Impact
Its not just graphics that create stickiness. Large text with a compelling message can do this too. Consider the layout of old fashioned newspapers, where the giant headlines in black or red, were designed to catch the eye of the passing traffic. This is really not that different.
Navigation - Cause and effect:
An action performed by a site visitor should have an immediate and obvious result in an expected, consistent and logical location.
Navigation should be obvious as such
A navigation option should be easily identifiable as a link.
They should all be consistently designed, affording a visual similarity that helps the user to notice them all. They should be grouped together logically, rather than spread about the page.
Navigation Placement
Navigation should be placed in a somewhat predictable location - where the user would expect to find it.
eg. horizontally along the top, vertically down the left or occasionally down the right side of the screen. Footer menus that are displayed horizontally along the bottom are common as secondary, rather than primary navigation but as screens are becoming wider we are likely to see more primary navigation along the bottom of the interface.
Although this may seem less than original, there is method and value to it. Navigation placed in the middle of the page, or otherwise arranged not to one side, reduces the amount of usable space available to display page content. It is more difficult for the user to locate, and is often not appropriate for the various types of pages that make up the site. That said, occasionally sites might have a particular type of content that lends itself to something different. The trick is to know the difference and choose based on optimal user experience, rather than what seems cool or interesting to the designer or site owner.
A good rule of thumb though is that if it is not appropriate for all pages it is not appropriate for any.. see ‘consistency’ below.
Navigation options should also be logically grouped together to minimize the user’s ‘time to find’
Navigation Consistency
Placement on the page should be consistent from page to page. If the menu is in a different location on each page it will frustrate the site visitor and increase your bounce rate tremendously.
Navigation Logic
Creatively naming of options might seem clever, but it is likely to increase the user’s time to find, and as a result it will increase your site’s bounce rate. Use plain and obvious language. It might be less fun but it gets the job done better.
It is essential that menu options are grouped logically. Particularly if you have a large number of pages to afford navigation to. If you have a menu with options nested under other options, the grouping and hierarchy of pages becomes even more important.
The order in which option are displayed should reflect the likely priorities of the site visitor.
Never underestimate the importance of the contact us link. Studies show that the more obvious your contact information the more visitors will contact the site owner. If this is one of the objectives of the site, then don’t be afraid to put the link someone prominent, and even to include the telephone number at the top of each page.
Navigation - Text verses image links.
As discussed above, search engines can’t index the content of an image, so in order to help the search engines to index your site and its content it is best to use text links in your navigation, rather than images with text on them. For more information about how search engines work see my SEO white paper.
Navigation Complexity
I am using the phrase ‘navigation complexity’ to refer to the number of top level menu options displayed and secondarily the overall number of options.
In general the less technical the expected audience, the fewer options should be displayed.
and the more technical the audience, the more options may be effectively displayed.
That said, keeping it simple is nearly always a good principle.
Navigation - Cause and effect:
An action performed by a site visitor should have an immediate and obvious result in an expected, consistent and logical location.
Navigation should be obvious as such
A navigation option should be easily identifiable as a link.
They should all be consistently designed, affording a visual similarity that helps the user to notice them all. They should be grouped together logically, rather than spread about the page.
Navigation Placement
Navigation should be placed in a somewhat predictable location - where the user would expect to find it.
eg. horizontally along the top, vertically down the left or occasionally down the right side of the screen. Footer menus that are displayed horizontally along the bottom are common as secondary, rather than primary navigation but as screens are becoming wider we are likely to see more primary navigation along the bottom of the interface.
Although this may seem less than original, there is method and value to it. Navigation placed in the middle of the page, or otherwise arranged not to one side, reduces the amount of usable space available to display page content. It is more difficult for the user to locate, and is often not appropriate for the various types of pages that make up the site. That said, occasionally sites might have a particular type of content that lends itself to something different. The trick is to know the difference and choose based on optimal user experience, rather than what seems cool or interesting to the designer or site owner.
A good rule of thumb though is that if it is not appropriate for all pages it is not appropriate for any.. see ‘consistency’ below.
Navigation options should also be logically grouped together to minimize the user’s ‘time to find’
Navigation Consistency
Placement on the page should be consistent from page to page. If the menu is in a different location on each page it will frustrate the site visitor and increase your bounce rate tremendously.
Navigation Logic
Creatively naming of options might seem clever, but it is likely to increase the user’s time to find, and as a result it will increase your site’s bounce rate. Use plain and obvious language. It might be less fun but it gets the job done better.
It is essential that menu options are grouped logically. Particularly if you have a large number of pages to afford navigation to. If you have a menu with options nested under other options, the grouping and hierarchy of pages becomes even more important.
The order in which option are displayed should reflect the likely priorities of the site visitor.
Never underestimate the importance of the contact us link. Studies show that the more obvious your contact information the more visitors will contact the site owner. If this is one of the objectives of the site, then don’t be afraid to put the link someone prominent, and even to include the telephone number at the top of each page.
Navigation - Text verses image links.
As discussed above, search engines can’t index the content of an image, so in order to help the search engines to index your site and its content it is best to use text links in your navigation, rather than images with text on them. For more information about how search engines work see my SEO white paper.
Navigation Complexity
I am using the phrase ‘navigation complexity’ to refer to the number of top level menu options displayed and secondarily the overall number of options.
In general the less technical the expected audience, the fewer options should be displayed.
and the more technical the audience, the more options may be effectively displayed.
That said, keeping it simple is nearly always a good principle.
Web site design elements
Screen size
The size of your web site is measured in pixels. These dimensions are not standardized but neither are they arbitrary. There are specific options that you will choose from when deciding what size to make your site.
The main options are: 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 320×480, 1680×1050
As of January 2010, you can design a website to fit in a 1024x768 window and 96% of site viewers accessing the site from their pc or laptop will have no scroll-bars. 76% of these viewers have screens that can accommodate interfaces larger than 1024 x 768.
Use this site as a resource for this data: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp
That said, more and more people are accessing the internet from mobile devices such as the ipad, (1024x768), iphone (320×480), netbooks, (1024×768 and up) and many more specific to particular phones.
Use this site as a resource for this data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_displays_by_pixel_density
Judging which resolution to choose, takes into account, the site visitor demographics, location, socio cultural backgrounds etc. For example, people working in the arts or design, or interested in these fields are more likely to be accessing the Internet with an apple laptop or monitor, which would afford them a larger screen and higher resolution. If your site is designed to speak to this group, you could safely choose a resolution somewhat above 1024x768, probably 1680×1050.
Web Site Builders: An indepth review of the leading offerings.
We have scored the various providers of web site building web applications:
According to 150 features and characteristics.
In 13 categories:
Analyzing the following SAAS offerings in this category:
Shroggle
Weebly
Homestead
Site2You
EDirectHost
SiteCube
Site Maker Live
Yola
The summary of the results is as follows:
Shroggle has particular strengths in SEO support and tools, has a robust e-commerce feature set and with the exception of one competitor (EDirect) they offer the most variety and depth of site elements and feature sets. Their weekness is in reporting. Although they offer 4 types of traffic report they do not offer reports on site searches or sales. However they are planning to add this functionality this year. They are also the only application of its type to offer a complete set of features for white label customers.
Weebly's great strength is their attractive site editing interface. However a notable shortage of key site elements and functionality, e-commerce support, seo or back office support, make this a poor choice for
professional use.
Homestead is one of the most compelling players in this market. Owned by Intuit they have excellent customer service for their retail customer, and offer a very good range of modules and features to this retail customer. Their support for the wholesale customer is poor and they offer no provisions for white label resellers at all.
Site2You has a fair functional offering for retail customers looking for a basic flyer / business card style web site. But lacks the breadth or depth to appeal to a professional audience.
EDirectHost is the most impressive overall offering. They score well in almost every category except, 'ease of setup' and 'functional support for white label customers'.
SiteCube has a fair functional offering for retail customers looking for a basic flyer / business card style web site. But lacks the breadth or depth to appeal to a professional audience.
Site Maker Live scores very well in its variety and editability of templates and themed sites. They offer an above average range of site elements and features but do not offer any ecommerce support, marketing or seo tools, back office support or reports. They do have a somewhat popular white label solution but appeal primarily to the type of reseller who has a retail rather than professional customer base.
Yola has a basic functional offering for retail customers looking for a rudamentary flyer / business card style web site. However it lacks the breadth or depth to appeal to a professional audience.
=========================================
Here is the breakout of how each one scored in each category.
These statistics are based on a much more detailed report that you can find here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=thhPV6IL5str0DHzEWUZSDA&single=true&gid=0&output=html
Ease of setup, access to support, simple pricing structure
Sites get an extra point if they do not ask for your credit card details until you are ready to go live.
And loose a point if they charge based on use of different functionality
Shroggle 4/4
Weebly 3/4
Homestead 2/4
Site2You 3/4
EDirectHost 1/4
SiteCube 1/4
Site Maker Live 2/4
Yola 0/4
B2B offering (SAAS / White label product)
Shroggle 5/5
Weebly 1/5
Homestead 1/5
Site2You 1/5
EDirectHost 2/5
SiteCube 3/5
Site Maker Live 3/5
Yola 2/5
Interface Design and Ease of use (web based application, wiziwig interface etc)
Insufficient data available
Shroggle
Weebly
Homestead
Site2You
EDirectHost
SiteCube
Site Maker Live
Yola
Site and Menu Templates: variety, design, editability
Shroggle 6/7
Weebly 5/7
Homestead 6/7
Site2You 4/7
EDirectHost 7/7
SiteCube 2/7
Site Maker Live 6/7
Yola 3/7
Available Elements, modules and functionality.
(use of third party functionality eg. scripts, widgets and partnerships is not included)
Shroggle 30/44
Weebly 20/44
Homestead 27/44
Site2You 27/44
EDirectHost 39/44
SiteCube 13/44
Site Maker Live 27/44
Yola 15/44
Permissions
Shroggle 2/2
Weebly 1/2
Homestead 1/2
Site2You 1/2
EDirectHost 2/2
SiteCube 0/2
Site Maker Live 2/2
Yola 1/2
E-Commerce Support
(use of third party functionality eg. scripts, widgets and partnerships is not included)
Shroggle 6/9
Weebly 0/9
Homestead 8/9
Site2You 4/9
EDirectHost 8/9
SiteCube 1/9
Site Maker Live 0/9
Yola 0/9
E-Commerce Payment Options
Shroggle 5/9
Weebly 3/9
Homestead 3/9
Site2You 1/9
EDirectHost 6/9
SiteCube 1/9
Site Maker Live 1/9
Yola 0/9
E-Commerce Shipping and Tax functionality.
Shroggle 2/5
Weebly 0/5
Homestead 4/5
Site2You 0/5
EDirectHost 5/5
SiteCube 0/5
Site Maker Live 0/5
Yola 0/5
Reporting
(use of third party functionality eg. scripts, widgets and partnerships is not included)
Shroggle 2/6
Weebly 0/6
Homestead 1/6
Site2You 0/6
EDirectHost 4/6
SiteCube 0/6
Site Maker Live 0/6
Yola 0/6
Marketing tools (cross selling, promotional functionality)
Shroggle 3/8
Weebly 0/8
Homestead 1/8
Site2You 0/8
EDirectHost 2/8
SiteCube 0/8
Site Maker Live 1/8
Yola 0/8
SEO support and tools
Shroggle 6/6
Weebly 1/6
Homestead 1/6
Site2You 2/6
EDirectHost 5/6
SiteCube 0/6
Site Maker Live 2/6
Yola 0/6
Back Office Support
Shroggle 6/19
Weebly 0/19
Homestead 0/19
Site2You 2/19
EDirectHost 12/19
SiteCube 1/19
Site Maker Live 1/19
Yola 0/19
When are originality and non conformity appropriate?
If your site design is technologically appropriate
If your site design is useable/ user friendly
and if it fulfills the purpose for which it was created - then and only then can you find ways to 'do something different' / 'non conformist' / 'creative' etc.
The true test of your creativity and skill will be whether you can meet the needs of the site owner, the site user, the search engines etc, and create something unusual.
Use of javascript, ajax and dynamic content in general can reduce the search engine visibility of your site if not used carefully and with approriate work arounds.
These technologies are loved for the great effects that they can produce, but if you use them carelessly you will build something that no one will ever find.
c) Where you host can limit the technology you can use, and technology can limit functionality and design.
The functionality that your site needs to offer will effect where you can host your site. Some hosts can not accomodate some technologies.
b) Beware designs with swirls, spirals and circles:
The web is good at displaying squares and rectangles. The placement of information is defined in terms of tables and xy coordinates. You can of course include images with circles, spirals and swirls but the data itself can only be displayed on or next to a circle or spiral, not usually in one.
The temptation is to replace these text elements with image and flash, which of course are much less limiting to design. But in doing so people generally undermine their search engine visibility.
If however you are fabulous with CSS and a whiz with photoshop, you may well be able to incorporate those waves and whirls with a great deal of talent and perserverence without compromizing your visibility. Its not easy to do well but it isn't impossible.
If you do think that this is something you might like to persue.. I would gently point out that people are used to all those squares and rectangles and the forms that they imply. In a right angled world site visitors know where to look to find page navigation links. If you take that predictablity away from them be sure to give them something very very user friendly and navigable. Novelty is nice to look at, but in a world of high bounce rates - "doing something unusual" for its own sake - can be a financially unrewarding choice.
3) Designs must be approriate for the technology
Technology does effect design parameters.
a) Text is king.
Sites that are made predominatly of images, flash, video, etc are at present almost impossible for search engines to index.
Make sure that your site's message is expressed in text - or you loose all chance of being found by anyone. For more about using the correct text see my SEO blog.
