By: Scott Offord

A website is able to perform any of a number of important functions for your business. But simply throwing up a site without paying attention to basic principles will likely do little to fatten your bottom line. Here are four critical considerations to help you in creating an intelligently designed and well constructed website that works hard for your company now and in the future.

First: Clarify Your Website Objectives

Whether you already have a website or are still in the planning stage, the first question to ask and continue asking is: What are my objectives in gaining a Web presence? Hopefully, it’s not simply because everyone else is doing so and you don’t want to be “left behind.” That’s not reason enough. If you want your website to be successful, there need to be specific goals you want to achieve.

And please don’t just say your purpose is to share information. That’s too general. While facilitating communication is good, virtually all of your objectives will involve conveying information in one way or another. Dig deeper into your purpose by asking yourself a few questions: “With whom am I looking to communicate—existing clients, potential customers, our employees, our investors? And what do I want to communicate to them?” Your goal might be to increase awareness of a service you offer, to market your brand, to convince your visitors that you are experts in your field, or something else. Being clear on what you want to communicate, and with whom, is a precondition for honing sharp and effective messages that will engage your visitors.

Perhaps you have objectives for your website that go beyond simple communication. Do you want your site to serve as an online store? Or as a gathering place where customers can provide feedback to you, maybe through a blog or a forum? Here too, it’s paramount to understand your precise objectives. Realize that these may change as your web presence grows. “What is our website’s purpose?” should not be a one-time query, but rather an ongoing question your firm keeps asking as your site evolves.

Second: Understand Your Website Developer’s Crucial Role

A competent website developer knows the importance of understanding your online goals. If there is any doubt in your mind about what your website objectives should be, it is the role of the developer to ask questions that will help you clarify them. Once your objectives are out on the table, the developer can then discuss with you the various options for realizing them. He or she will be able to advise you on what features to include on your site, and create a design that is attractive and effective.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking of your website developer as a “computer geek” unable to address your objectives. Your developer is not just a glorified typist who makes things happen by punching keys that produce funny code no one else can read. Good website developers are “street smart” about the biggest and fastest road of our time, the Cyber Highway. They are knowledgeable about many aspects of the Internet, including how people use it. A professional website developer has the knowledge and expertise to advise you on how to fulfill your objectives, as well as to create attractive and informative web pages that engage your visitors’ attention.

Third: Make It Easy for Visitors to Find What They Are Seeking

One thing good developers know is how people approach web pages. They understand that most surfers skim a page for clues before reading entire sentences. Visitors may have a clear or only a confused idea of what they are seeking—but either way, they tend to make very quick decisions about whether you have something they are looking for. Upon first landing on your web page, they will quickly skim the page, jumping from photo to photo and paragraph to paragraph. As Steve Krug says in his book Don’t Make Me Think! “We’re thinking ‘great literature’ … while the user’s reality is much closer to ‘billboard going by at 60 miles an hour.’” Within three seconds, they will consciously or subconsciously decide whether the information is useful to them. If they think it is worth their time, they will begin to read the page again, but this time in more detail from top to bottom.

This quick-decision approach makes sense when you think of the enormous sea of information that constitutes the Web. If you stopped to read every word on every page that might be of some interest, you could quickly find yourself drowning in information.

The take-home message is that it’s vital to design your website to make it easy for your visitors to see, in a flash, just what information you have available on the site. It’s also essential to make it easy for them to access different areas of information. The easier they can get to what interests them—whether it’s news about your services, investment opportunities, or a product you are selling—the less likely they will leave your site frustrated, possibly never to return. Remember, your website visitors are driven by their goals, not yours. Not wasting time is as important to them as it is to you.

Fourth: Make Your Content Easy to Read and Understand

Not only do visitors want to find what interests them quickly, they want that information to be presented in the clearest, most readable fashion. Knowing how to optimize web pages is one of the main skills of an experienced website developer. For example, developers know that blocks of information should be relatively short, with sufficient white space included between and around paragraphs. They also know that for the great majority of text, the best color scheme is black against white. Sure, you can use a hot pink background with red lettering, like some teenager’s Myspace page. However, while it can be fun to take creative liberties with your site, it isn’t always the best way to get your important message across. The whole point of creating your web pages could get lost in overly complex and inappropriately contrasting designs. Consider how newspapers, books, and magazines have long been printed with black letters on white paper. The reason is simple—because it’s the color scheme that’s easiest on your eyes and your brain. And that’s what you want for your visitors—not to make them see pinwheels.

A competent developer will understand not only how to make your web pages easy on the eyes, but also the importance of professional sounding content. Here, “professional” doesn’t mean that you have to use a lot of big words to get your message across. On the contrary, it’s usually preferable to talk to people in conversational, easily understood language. Remember, web pages are relatively impersonal constructions. By creating text that speaks to your visitors as if they are your neighbors and friends, you can go a long way toward adding to the attractiveness of your site. This doesn’t mean “dunce-ing down” your web pages. After all, much of the greatest writing in the world is very easy to read and understand—think of Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway. Chances are high that whether your message is simple or very technical, it can be stated in clear, friendly, conversational language.

You may have someone in-house who is competent to write engaging and informative web pages at a high level. If not, your website developer may be able to assist you in that area, or to help you locate a competent writer. In any event, be sure to have your pages proofread or edited by an expert to insure there are no misspelled words or grammatical errors, either of which can seriously detract from your visitors’ perceptions of your professionalism.

The bottom line is that relevant and clearly presented information helps persuade your visitors to stay on your website longer. That, in turn, may encourage them to pick up the phone, send an email, or use your services. Web content presented clearly and professionally will also improve your reputation as your customers, employees, and investors will think more highly of you. And that can only help your company grow.

In sum, remember that your site will represent you day and night, and will speak to your audience when they are most ready to listen. It can be a great representative if you first of all understand your goals, and then work closely with an experienced developer to make it easy for your visitors to access clear, engaging, professionally presented content that furthers those goals. Follow these four principles, and you will ultimately make your job easier, because your website will be working hard for you twenty-four hours a day.