2010 has become the year of social networking with popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare gaining more users by the minute. A good website design can help businesses from one person startups to international conglomerates market their products and services effectively especially when connecting with millions of potential customers on these sites. To build a website you need two things, useful content and a great interface. In the end, a web user will end up using an ugly site with killer content vs the awesome flash site that doesn’t say much.
User interfaces should remain consistent with other websites as most users know how to use websites like Facebook and Google. Unless you have an interface idea that offer some sort of unique interaction, why scare your users away off the bat? User interface design focuses on how a product works, not how it looks. It isn’t about arranging buttons and picking colors. It is asking questions like, does my interface even need buttons? If so, what do they need to do? What will I need to provide users to help them accomplish their goals, and more importantly, mine? Familiarity is when you recall something you have dealt with in the past. Designing a page with user familiar elements will help users navigate your interface even on first time visits.
Creating useful content on the other hand can be a tricky task. The easiest way to develop content for me has always been to put myself in the target audiences shoes. Understand what they are looking for when they come to your website. Ask yourself the questions they would ask, then develop content around that. One of the popular acronyms I remember from my marketing courses was AIDA. That is a simple acronym which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action and is largely attributed to E.K. Strong who developed it in 1925. There have been many variations over the years but the concept remains the same. The goal of any sales pitch is to close the sale. Although the sale can vary in meaning depending on your business, the effectiveness of your pitch determines on whether or not your “buyer” says, Yes.
AIDA Overview
- Grab the user’s Attenion. Careful, don’t offer everything as you want them to come back in the future.
- Keep their Interest with relevant, meaningful content
- Create a Desire to have your product. Keep in mind desire and need are different
- Lastly, create a call to Action to so the user acts on their desires.
Building a website is no simple task but when done correctly, it can help your market you brand like no other channel can. With access to millions of social network users, a great website can help your company go viral. The internet offers a wealth of information and opportunity. Don’t miss out.
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