Do you really need your website to do that?

Website designs that are unique.

One of the consistant questions that I get asked, concerning websites has to do with some type of unusual web site design.  Every one wants to have a different or unique design to their website. I can appreciate that as I want the same thing as well with my website.  No one wants to go online and se the same website somewhere else.  WIth wordpress and the ease of adding different themes, it has become much easier to think that you might come across the same or similar website design.

The need to standout has become so great with companies, we are seeing very dramatic designs.  I have visited websites that I could not figure out what to do with.  The unique design was so over the top that the entire message of the website was lost.

Remember browsers react a different way with each design.

Have you ever been to a website that pictures are missing or video does not show up correctly or even worse it looks like the website is broken!  The more creative we make the designs the more there is to mess p with the different browsers.  Most web designers are building websites with Firefox.  If they are not careful with the design it will not translate to Internet Explorer or even Chrome.

It is important that you have the designer make the website viewable in all browser settings to avoid your clients seeing something different than you expect.  Remember that mobile browsers are no exception to this rule.  They struggle to see websites the same way our laptops and desktops do.  I will address this in a different post with a middle more detail.

What do you really need out of a website?

We tend to expect a website to do much more than is actually necessary.  It may seem like a good idea to have a lot of flash and video content on a website when it comes to look, but that is not always best for the website.  A trend that is running around in web design is music and videos starting up once you reach the website.  The appeal of this may be good but overall not a good idea.

Imagine going typing in a website url and once you arrive at the website your speakers go crazy with sound.  If you are like me and you like your music loud or keep your speakers turned up, this can be a big problem.  The last thing you want is to scare off your client and this is a very easy way to do it.  What about looping videos?  Nothing can be more frustrating than trying to read an article and hearing the same video over and over again, not only the repetitiveness but not being able to concentrate on the reason you actually went to the website.

Dont forget your purpose for the website.

Let’s not forget the purpose of creating and maintaining a website; to get the consumers attention! Be catchy, but easy to access (make your site functional and easy to read).   Example: I love the occasional game on a website but, I tend to forget what I came to that website for after 5 min of playing the game. REMEMBER: Get the consumer to your site so they can find out how to contact you then….MAKE A SALE!!!

What should a website be?  ONLY what it needs to be.  Great looking and lead generating!!