DesignerMark Blog

Browsing habits change… people change. The trend on the internet is that site visitors are spending less time reading on-screen – they want to get to the informtion they need… and FAST!

Whether your site is an online brochure, an information source, an e-commerce site or a community hub, there is value in keeping things simple.

This “simplicity” can take many forms but in essence it is about information management. This encompasses the site menus and navigation, visual design and layout, and the page ‘tree’ structure in terms of how the pages are organised within the navigation system.

There are a number of relatively new techniques (at least new in the sense that they are now “browser-safe” across the majority of current browsers) which allow more scope in how you achieve this simplicity.

Always look at it from your customers’ point of view. What would you want to see to understand the message? What information do you need most? What do you want poeple to do on the site? What is the “call to action”?

Some suggestions to consider:-

Have LESS pages on the site with with less text and links to downloadable PDF files for more detailed information

• PROS:
  
  • Site will be easier to manage and potentially quicker/cheaper to create.
  • Easier for users to navigate and easier to control their experience and make sure they read the information you want them to.
  • You can format the deeper information to be easily printable so that they can be read offline in a more relaxed, traditional way.
  • Users can print off information relevant to them and create a ‘file’ which can be a great way of them showing the information to other decision making staff in the office and easier for them to come back to for further reading. Also having the papeer on their desk it is likely to stay in their consciousness for longer so that your website won’t be consigned to their browser history and be lost or forgotten!
  • Easier for you to plan out the website and manage it’s content both in the initial stages and in future updates.
• CONS:
  • PDF files still show up in search engines, but if people land on a PDF page, there will be no navigation back to the rest of the site.
  • Less pages on your site means less opportunity to get keywords and optimise each page for search engines. This makes it more important to make the pages you have work well for search engines if getting traffic that way is important to you.
  • Users need Acrobat software to view the PDF files. Most people already do have this but potentially not the right versions, thus they would have to download and install extra software.
  • Planning what to say and in what detail can be more time consuming, because each element of content is important to get right.

Use advanced DHTML techniques to “hide” certain information and “reveal” it when the user clicks certain prompts

• PROS:
  • A nice and modern way of managing page content, not overwhelming the visitor with walls of text, but still having that infomration quickly available within hiodden panels. These can animate to reveal further information in a slick way.
  • Easier for users to navigate and access the information quickly because the hidden information is instantly shown rather than loading a separate page.
  • If executed well, with thought and planning, creates a nice ‘experience’ for users navingating your site.
• CONS:
  • Can be more costly to develop the programming.
  • May not work on older browsers, but the content will still be shown so users will not miss out other than the visual integrity.
  • May not work with some Content Management Systems, although workarounds are often possible.

Have a clear message within the website and “call to actions” on every page

• PROS:
  • Visitors (hopefully) won’t be confused by what you are offering, therefore the message will be more meaningful and memorable.
  • The presentation will seem more professional and well planned.
  • The focus of the site and the users attention will be more controlled, and if planned well you will get the results you want more efficiently.
• CONS:
  • None!

These are strong arguments for keeping things simple on your website. For further advice feel free to contact DesignerMark for assistance.