Excellent web design is key to your website's success. If the design is effective, it would increase traffic to the site and also improve sales. On the other hand, a bad design can discourage website usage despite exceptional products and service.

Keep in mind the following points while you design your site if you want it to be successful:


Top 10 Dos of Website Design


1. Do provide effortless search and navigation capabilities. It should be easy to search information on you site. All pages also need to have the key links to information that would boost the user experience. As a rule of thumb, it should not take more than two to three clicks for customers to access desired information. You would ensure repeat visits from your customers if you save them time by offering fast navigation and speedy access to information they are looking for.


2. Do keep your website content simple and easy to understand. Develop clear, effective and to-the-point content to seize customer attention and help them comprehend better what you have to offer. Your content should address customer problems and offer effective solutions for them.


3. Do give your site a consistent look and feel. Creating a consistent look and feel for your entire website through the use of similar fonts, colors and layouts is a must to give it a professional look. This is especially important with regards to the interlinked pages.


4. Do make your site accessible on multiple browsers. Users may visit your website using many different web browsers like Firefox, Internet Explorer or Chrome. If you plan to make your site accessible on mobile phones then include testing on mobile browsers to your test plan.


5. Do display your contact information on every page.
List your physical address including other contact information like phone and email on the 'Contact Us' page. It is also crucial to list phone and email at the bottom of each page for easy availability.


6. Do put important information near the heading of each page to enable customers to easily see it and not wait to scroll down to find it.


7. Do use high-quality graphics and pictures. Keep a good balance between the image resolution and time to load them. High quality graphics will appeal to users but would be a turn off if they take too long to load.


8. Do use headlines, italicized words, bold face, pleasant colors, bullet points and icons to draw customer attention to most important segments of your content.


9. Do understand that security of the web site is important and generates confidence Make your website secure for visitors. Privacy policy also needs to be easily accessible to the users.


10. Do use clear and concise page titles. Users see web page title in search results and clear effective titles can significantly increase the traffic coming to your website.


Top 10 Don'ts of Website Design


1. Don't clutter your website. Unorganized web pages are hard to read and navigate. Restrict the amount of information you present on each page. Build a new page for each separate topic, product or product category. Any advertisement on the web pages must be non intrusive else the prospects would leave and most likely not return for a repeat visit.


2. Don't go overboard while using audio and video features that use high bandwidth. These may be slow to download and are irritating if the customer has to wait too long for them.


3. Don't use text and color combination that makes content hard to read. Additionally, don't include distracting visuals on your web pages.


4. Don't add needless irrelevant information or features to your website. It would be a waste of time for your visitors to use features or browse information that does not carry any meaning for them.


5. Don't let the content of the links get stale. Frequently refresh the content and update the links to relevant information. Outdated links are annoying and can seriously affect your business reputation.


6. Don't use jargon or overly technical terms on your pages unless your website is designed to address the needs of a small segment of technical people. Moreover, do not use conflicting information in your site. In addition to confusing customers, such information gives a highly negative and unprofessional image to your website.


7. Don't use flashing icons and text as that can distract browsers and may be detrimental to the popularity of your website.


8. Don't clutter the web pages with advertisements. Also, limit pop-ups as they can annoy shoppers.


9. Don't include introductory advertisements on the first page before your web content appears. Such advertisements put customers in a sore mood even before they see your content.


10. Don't just brag about your company's achievements. Offer your prospects easy to digest information and back it up with references and customer reviews to enable them to judge your performance.


Follow the dos and steer clear of the don'ts to design an effective website, and greatly increase the probability of successful web entrepreneurship.