Web Site Makeover Checklist - Web Design Article

By:Leva Duell

If you have an existing web site, or have just finished designing a new one, use these questions to verify if you have all the following elements in place. Among other things, you will likely lose prospective buyers, credibility, and sales if you have broken links and missing images.

These are some important factors for each site.

• Do you provide content that people want?
• Are you grammar and spelling correct?
• Do your pages load fast?
• Is your site easy to navigate?
• Is the design consistent? All your pages should follow some basic pattern or format and look similar.

Planning

Do your home work before you begin to write and design your web site.

• Do you have a clear goal?
• Is your web site unique? (USP)
• Did you define your ideal customer?

Web Site Development

• Are you targeting your prospective buyers with your web site's content, message, and design?

Sales Process/Ordering Process/e-Commerce

• Is it easy to contact you?
• Do you provide contact information on every page or do you have a link to a contact page?
• Are you providing an 800 number, local number, mailing address, and email?
• Is it easy to buy from you? Do you provide several easy ordering options? (online, fax, mail, phone, 800 order number). Do you provide several payment options? (credit cards, PayPal, Storm Pay, cashier’s check, money order)
• Are you providing a secure online order form?
• Is your order form easy to find?
• Do you provide risk reversal with a money-back guarantee?

Design Elements

• Does your web site look professional? Does it portray a powerful, professional image?
• Is your web site user-friendly? (logical navigation, speed, easy-to-read)
• Do your web pages load fast?
• Are your pages easy to read? (layout, colors, white space)
• Is your site interactive? Can visitors contact you through email forms, feedback forms, and guestbooks? Are you communicating with your visitors through newsletters?
• Do all graphics and images show up?
• Are your forms working? Did you check every part of your forms?
• Did you maintain a consistent look and feel? Are the layout, typefaces, colors, and navigation consistent in all your pages?
• Did you use white space, color, and formatting to control the look of your documents?
• Are pages designed for your target audience? Do they fit your audience's monitor?
• Did you test and optimize all pages wimth popular browsers, platforms, computers, screen resolutions, and settings?

Navigation

• Can visitors and potential buyers easily find what they're looking for?
• Do you have a link to your home page, contact page, and order form on every page?
• Are all links working?

Final checklist before putting pages on the Web
• Did you verify spelling and grammar?
• Is the content written at your audience's reading level?
• Did you use a writing style and vocabulary your audience understands?
• Did you verify contact information?
• Did you verify that all graphics show up?
• Did you verify that all forms are working?
• Did you view your pages with popular browsers, platforms (PC and Mac), screen resolutions, and settings?

Marketing

• Are you capturing your visitors' email?
• Are you providing a free newsletter, report, consultation, or other offer?
• Are you building email lists?
• Are you staying in touch with your potential buyers through an ezine, newsletter, announcements, and special offers?
• Are you marketing your site consistently?
• Are you submitting your web site to search engines every four to six weeks?
• Are you tracking your traffic?
• Are you updating your site regularly?

Think like the ideal customer. Your Web site will be successful only if you provide what your visitors and buyers need.

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Article keywords: web design, header templates, ebook cover, ebook cover design, ebook cover image, ebook image, 3D cover

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