Foundational Building Blocks of an Effective Web Site

by Kevin Smith Author

As the person in your company in charge of creating or revamping your web site, you know the content and direction you want the site to take. Whether you're hosting it in-house or using a web hosting service, however, you want to make sure that apart from the content, you have the foundational elements of a site that will attract customers. Here are some of those building blocks that every effective web site possesses.

Space

Your web layout has to be free and smooth flowing, but also cannot be too busy. It has to look professional, but have an aura of ease attached to it. Customers should get on your site and not feel crowded or pressured, but rather like they're in a web space that is managed, but not overly so. Making sure your spacing is consistent, using white backgrounds and making sure the flow of any text is smooth is a key to ensuring the space on your web site attracts customers rather than making them feel like someone is breathing down their neck.

Simplicity

Some web sites have a lot of cool bells and whistles that are great in terms of attracting attention. Those attractors, however, can also be distractors, especially if they make navigation of your web site extremely complex. Navigating your site should be easy, intuitive and straightforward. There is nothing so aggravating as thinking you are getting to see a simple description of a product only to be interrupted by pop-ups, auto video, audio, etc.

Who You Are

Often, the “About Us” section of a web site looks like it was thrown together in about fifteen minutes. This is unfortunate because the story you have to tell about your company is encapsulated in that biographical section. Spend time making you About Us section easy to read and use, informative, but not so data infused it's impossible to read all the way through it without needing a nap.

Call to Action

Every part of your web site should be prompting people to check out and buy your products. A part that does not at least offer more information is wasted space on your site. Ideally, each part of your web site should offer access to a product or products as well as information about you as a company and both should move people to take action.

Contact and Data Collection

Every time a customer accesses your site, you want to know about them. That means you must collect data on them. Setting up a robust data analysis function as part of the routine, daily management of your site is vital to let you use the site as effectively as possible.

Regardless of who is in charge of your web hosting or site design, they need to be able to accommodate these basic foundational processes. Making sure each of these building blocks is present will ensure customers notice and spend time on your web site.