Is Your Website Self-Centered or User-Centered?

Always remember who will be using your website. It's not your company CEO, marketing department or programmers. The truth is that your website visitors have the power to bring fame and fortune, or ruin a reputation and sour investors. On the Internet, competition isn't just in the next town; it's just one easy click away.

Common Elements Are Like an Internet Handshake
Your website has one chance to offer a firm handshake or a limp one to those who are introduced to it. Does your site offer proof that your company provides expertise in its field, or are company details vague and unimpressive? Is the shopping cart and checkout process easy and intuitive, or does it simply frustrate users to the point of no return? Don't just put "something" on a page. Think about how the presentation and inclusion of that "something" will enhance and improve your users' experience.

Another important thing to consider is how your visitors may have found your website. Did you bid on or optimize for accurate keywords, or did you lead your visitors down a path to nowhere, with a site that doesn't match its advertised claims? We've all wasted lots of time clicking on search engine ads that sound great, but then don't deliver what we expected. Be honest and realistic with your ads and your keywords.

Be the one in the meetings who reminds everyone to THINK about each little thing they want added to the website. Always return to your business and functional requirements (which we talked about in Part One). Return to it again and again, as necessary. Ensure that every element you place on your website, every hub, link label and page complements your original goals for the site. If your goal is to be famous, it won't happen if you build a website that doesn't perform to user expectations. Do what filmmakers do: they may absolutely love a scene, but if it doesn't move the story along or if it complicates what they want to convey, that scene ends up on the cutting room floor. Don't be afraid to cut out design elements that don't work.

Comfort Zones
People are conditioned to look for things on websites in certain places. Therefore, every site designer should consider including certain common pages and elements, and make them easy to find from the homepage.

Tagline - with keywords
Introductory content
Alt and/or title attributes
Universal navigation
About Us page
Contact - with email link or form
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions
Sitemap and/or search function
Hubs - sections or categories of interest

All of these common elements are reassuring to your website users. This doesn't mean you can't throw them a curve now and then, but make sure that new cool/nifty thing isn't going to frustrate them.

You may want to also add some optional common elements, which are great for establishing authority, authenticity and credibility:

Investor relations page
Press relations page
News or announcements
Help/FAQ section
Meet the team/staff page
Testimonials
White papers
Articles

For interactive websites and ecommerce sites, you will likely need the following common elements:

Shopping cart
Login area
Contact form
Sales lead form (such as registration)
Site search engine
Newsletter signup forms

Build It So Users and Search Engines Love It
Building a site so that users and search engines love it is much more important than your loving it. You may think you have the greatest website on earth, but if nobody agrees, what are you left with? Insist on adding user conveniences and search engine optimization elements throughout your website while it's still being built.

If you can perform at least 5 things from the following list, you're already likely to be ahead of your competition:

1. Add a keyword-oriented Title tag specifically written for each individual page.

2. Add a Meta description tag that describes JUST the content to be found on that particular page.

3. Write accurate headings and subheadings that make sense to your visitors and the search engines.

4. Provide a link to a text-only print version when designing a graphics-heavy site.

5. Make sure your forms are considerate of people from all countries. Not everyone lives in a "state" or has a "zip code."

6. Don't pummel your visitors with popups and banners.

7. Check for broken links.

8. Keep pages short and concise, or if long, add "top of page" links.

9. Make sure off-site links open up a new window.

10. Use templates so there's consistency between pages and navigation.

11. Ensure that a way "Home" is easily found on inside pages.

12. Use logical, consistent call-to-action labels for every link.

13. Add a link description via the alt or title attribute.

14. Write effective, professional content. (Don't babble.)

15. Design for graceful rendering in as many browsers as you can, including Opera.

16. Check CSS on all browsers and correct problem areas.

17. Request and welcome website feedback.

18. Don't insist that your users only view your website with Microsoft products. (Offer alternatives.)

19. Avoid teeny tiny text and font styles that are uncommon to all types of computers.

20. Let keyword phrases be your guide by limiting topics to one or two phrases per page.

The best advice I ever received was "Quit designing and think about what you want the user to see or do first." Don't assume that just because you included a page, application, graphic, or hub means you've automatically satisfied a business or functional requirement. Show the website around. Ask people to try it out. Be open to their suggestions and fix what frustrates them. And then ask, "If you found this website in a search engine, would you stay or leave?"

Being number one for your keyword phrases won't miraculously bring you a return on your investment, but satisfied users will.

Watch for Part Five - Final Tests Before Rollout