Quick W.I.T.S.

In today's installment of Design in Detail, we're discussing what makes a good Product page for your website. This article will be a little bit different than the previous ones; every company is unique, and the products and services they offer vary greatly. So instead of listing out specific features you should include on your page, I thought it would be more helpful to review the overall design and layout of the Product page, and offer advice on how to catch your visitors' attention and turn them into customers. With that in mind, here are 5 tips to improve your website's Product page: 1. Avoid Clutter A lot of product pages are overwhelming, with tons of detail, lots of information, and options all over the page. This can make it hard to read (especially on mobile), and is generally frustrating to customers. The best thing you can do is to keep your page as simple as possible. Don't have a lot of fancy graphics taking up screen space, don't put too much...

It may sound like a no-brainer, but you'd be amazed how quickly client interactions can go poorly just because you're not speaking the same language they are. Your customers are telling you what they want and need all the time... you just have to learn how to hear what they're saying. There's more to it than just listening - anyone can listen. It takes more effort to actually hear them. In my years as a project manager, I developed an ideology for how to work with people to achieve the results that both you and they want. I called it the "L.E.S.S. is More" strategy, which stood for Listen, Empathize, Secure, and Satisfy. I know, it sounds like one of those cheesy business self help books, but it really works. Ultimately, all L.E.S.S. does is help you and your customer get on the same page, to ensure you're not working at cross purposes, and that nothing important is left out. Let's run it down: 1. Listen Again, it may seem silly to list this ...

The About Us page is the heart and soul of your website. It's probably the most important page on your site, it's usually the most visited page, and it is absolutely the hardest page to get just right. In today's installment of Design in Detail, we're looking at key features you should include in your About Us page, and how to make the most of this critical part of your website. To help us decide what to put on the About Us page, we really need to understand why customers look for this page in the first place. The primary reason is that they want to learn something about you and your business; not just who you are and what you do, but also things like what makes you special, what's important to you, or even why they should trust you versus your competition. With that in mind, here are 5 important features that I think every About Us page should include, in one form or another: 1. Tell Your Story Most of the time, the About Us page will end up having more t...

I've never understood why marketers and advertisers, who are already fighting an uphill battle for your attention, would choose to do something that is actively annoying. This style of web design is aggressive, selfish, and can really turn people off, whatever it is you're trying to do. Usually, when I see a site that uses these tactics, I won't even bother trying to fight my way through to read what I came to look for - I just move on to somewhere less predatory. Here are three modern web design trends that I really hate: 1. Popups Popup ads aren't exactly new; they're nearly as old as the internet itself. But in the last couple of years, thanks to combining them with scripting languages such as Java, they've gotten really nasty. Some sites pop up huge messages when you try to change pages, close the site, or don't click on whatever the designer wants you to click on. They try to grab your attention and force you to engage with the site, but all the...

People ask me all the time what content their website needs to be successful as a marketing tool. Whether you're building a website yourself or having one professionally built by a web designer, there are a few key features or aspects your site should always include to maximize its effectiveness. Today, I'm starting a new series of in-depth articles called "Design in Detail" discussing the pages that websites usually contain, and the features that you should be including to make the most of each page. Every Thursday for the next several weeks, I'll post a new article in the series, covering a new page. The goal of these articles is to help you make your website the best it can be, and to ensure you aren't overlooking any mistakes that could cost you customers. Be sure to check back each week so you don't miss out! Five Features Your Home Page Should Include Your home page is usually the first thing a visitor sees when they find your website. A...