Is Your Website Wearing a Jacket and Tie?

The following are a few pointers to think about when choosing a web design template:

Consider the entrance to your virtual store, (your index.html page).

Is it large enough, noticeable, professional looking, too gloomy, too serious? etc. What is the first impression you get? Is it better than your current store or office? (if you have one of course, or copy one you admire) Do you have the opportunity to make it better than your current store? Does it reflect the image you want to reveal?

How is the virtual office or store inside? (your sub-pages.html and products.html) Does it look fully staffed?

How can you make it fully staffed? Add pictures of people or your staff. Add a "This page last updated on..." on some of your pages so visitors know that there is activity on your site. Your visitors or customers do not want to be the only one's purchasing your products. Add a forum. Let your visitors email your support. Do you have an "about us" page so your visitors really know who you are? If you are a "one-man-show" use "us" and "we" instead of I. Please keep in mind that not all visitors or customers wish for a big company but would rather talk on a one-to-one basis. "We" or "us" is not necessarily better than "I".

How is the product placement? Have you ever not been able to find a product in a store? Why? What was the reason? Have you avoided the problem on your web pages?

The ordering of the service or product is just as important. When people purchase products in a store, they feel safe about where their money is going; to the cashier. Again, on the Internet, everything is virtual. Your customers do not hand out the money to you, they type in a few numbers on a web page and assume it is processed securely and safely. The professionalism and quality of your web design will help prove that somewhat. A cheap looking website will easily become a hindrance to your visitors, regardless if the service or product you sell is what they want.

How is your ordering process? Is it just like in the stores in town? Is there a smile there to greet them? Is it too serious or too unprofessional looking? Does it look secure and safe? Do your visitors understand how their orders are processed, how secure their orders are and how they obtain your service or product?

A useful tool is to also compare your site to your competition. You can always learn a few things about how they have designed their site. Try and find out what are some of the positive characteristics of their site design and what are some of the negative characteristics. How can you make yours better? There is a saying that if your competitor opens up shop, you place yours right next to theirs but make it better. There is more publicity for you and more visitors visiting the better of the two, whichever one that is, is up to you.

This article is contributed from Lars Jensen of Hosting and Designs (http://www.hostinganddesigns.com).