CPUTrend

I am often asked to review the look of a companies website, as an outside, professional source. I have decided to write a guide to help you determine the effectiveness and quality of your website. This guide does not cover much about the content or code in your site, but mainly focuses on the design aspects that your everyday visitor is involved with. A guide on Content will come in the near future so look out!

Read more after the break!

Resolution
The resolution of your website is it's size. When it comes to resolution we are mainly focused on it's width, will pages distort on certain screen sizes? As of 2011, the smallest screen size used on the internet is 1024x768, witch means your website width should have a maximum width of about 1000px as to not get squished when viewed on personal computers.

Accessibility
Accessibility of people of many different languages can be a very important, if not necessary, part of your website. This can be solved by the addition of translation apps on your main page. Although not all websites need this type of accessibility, it is vital for any company selling items online.

Load Time
Recent studies have shown that website pages that take longer than 4 second to load lose their effectiveness quickley. People are impatient and want information fast. Just go through your website and if you find pages that take a while to load, look at them and see where you can trim the "fat"

Rollovers
It's not uncommon for a website to utilize rollovers, the ability to hover your mouse over an image or menu and have something happen. Be it a drop down menu or a image effect, make sure these work. Not only does it make your site look poorly made but it can also take away from much of the functionality of your site.

Ease of Navigation
How hard is it for a customer to find what they are looking for? There are two main tips for this, 1) Make no item take longer then 3 steps to find. This includes menu rollovers and any other action you must take. and 2) Use words your target audience can understand. Many meanings can be lost in the translation from person to person and cetain people don't relate certain words to certain things. E.G. When I first opened my website my menu link to any PC related was "PC Repair.' Quite a few people who needed network setup or virus removal didn't relate their problem to this and it made me lose work. I have since changed "PC Repair" to "IT Solutions"

Artwork
By artwork I don't mean just putting random pictures on your site. Any photo's you post should contain relevant information and be of a very high quality. Most businesses will try to take their own photographs, I try and talk them out of it. The photographs on your website should be of a high quality done by professionals.

Elegance
Maybe this shouldn't be called elegance, a better word may be "clutter free." Make your website clean, no flashing banners and no backgrounds that are too busy. Anything that flashes is a huge distraction for humans, and busy backgrounds make your website look cluttered. Both of these take away from your actual content.

Typography
Typography is the size and font of your text. Unless you are a newspaper, avoid Times New Roman, try and make the font size at least 12px. Use a text color that is NOT white or black, they create a lot of contrast on computer screens and can strain the eyes of your readers.

Resources
Make help available when people need it, this can include a FAQ (frequently asked questions) or a contact number. That leads me into my next part, make your contact information visible on EVERY page. Have you ever been on a website where you need help, and for the life of you can't find it? It is extremely frustrating and can lead to sales loss.

Clarity
Remember when you post things online you are essentially having a conversation, treat it as such. When you write, act like you are having a one way conversation, if it helps you can even pretend to answer for the reader. This makes your content much easier to read. Remember you are writing for PEOPLE, not search engines, people.

Visual Appearance
How does your site look from a consumer perspective? Is it engaging? Maybe it needs some color, it's crucial to find a delicate balance between a professional look and an aesthetically appealing look. This leads me to my next topic.

Professional Appearance
How does your website make you look as a business? Does it represent you well and are your proud to have your business represented by this website. It is very hard to find a look that is both professional, engaging and fun. You may go through many different variation of your site, I know I have!

Colors
Choose colors that compliment each other, don't choose anything that make it hard for someone to read. Another tip is to avoid pure BLACKS and WHITES, you may think that it's a nice contrast and stands out, it actually the opposite, we have a hard time with the pure contrast between the two colors.

Layout
How is your space used? are you making the most of what space you have available? Try and avoid white spaces and just empty content. This can be very difficult to accomplish. My website doesn't necessarily convey a lot of information and I had to fill up spaces with charts and other pertinent information.

Integration
How many pages do you have on your website? 10, 15, maybe even 20! One of the most important things you can do is tomake sure they all have a consistent look, carry your theme into every part of your website. You can go a step further and carry your look into your business cards and other advertising!