News from February 2010

If you love your users, set them free.

February 6, 2010

Great websites link out and don’t try to hide the fact that the web is a series of connected entities. Making sure that we open external links in the same window instead of opening new windows and tabs actually encourages users to return to our site because they can click the back button and return more quickly. There has been extensive study about this.

On the web, the golden rule concept really pays off. Think of how you’d like things to work when you’re on a website, and make it work that way for your users. It’s annoying to see a website URL and not be able to click it. Users don’t have much patience for this kind of stuff and they pick up the fact that you’re trying to keep them on your site quite quickly.

There’s been a real trend in recent years to go the extra mile in providing useful links and information. Quite often blog writers will hyperlink terms in text that may be confusing off to dictionary.com or wikipedia. The concept is that if your site is useful and helpful users will return to keep reading.

The fact is, if people want to leave, they will. Instead of trying to find ways to trick them into staying, it’s better to build great content and useful links to augment your content that will keep them coming back.

Let a professional at it

February 4, 2010

I was having coffee the other day with a friend who has a lot of I.T. experience. He’s seen it all. We were discussing the fact that a university student is redesigning his organization’s website and he’s a bit skeptical that it’s going to go well.

The student may have a lot of talent and may even have some experience but he’s not a professional. When it comes to web design, a talented designer can make your site look great but is that all you need. A great looking website can attract some new business or draw attention to your organization but there is the risk that it’s too superficial.

An experienced web designer wants the website to look good and work well. Perhaps a little extra help on setting up your site navigation will help your visitors get to the right place quicker. Perhaps a bit of help with a content management system will mean your site operates faster and with less down time. Perhaps some help moving your content from your existing site to the newly redesigned one will mean a bit less writing. Perhaps working with someone with a few more project under their belt is less risky. It might be a bit more expensive to hire a web design company over a student but that extra money might be well worth it if the project doesn’t go well.

I truly wish my friend luck with his website.