A website that provides entertainment typically isn’t sales driven, meaning it is meant to amuse and entertain without being directly linked to a product or service. An example of such a website would include a movie review website, or a joke-of-the-day site. Personal websites, such as one you put up yourself with your life story or family history on it could be categorized as either entertainment or informational in nature.
Before you think about the options of designing your own web page, or hiring a professional web designer to assist you, there are some basic questions you need to ask yourself, and come up with the answers that fit your specific situation. If you don’t have a clue as to what you want, just a general idea, head straight for a professional designer who can turn your ideas into a solid reality.
The technical portion of website design includes using the appropriate programming script, i.e. HTML or Javascript, to allow the site to function properly. A professional web designer should also provide a basic page outline and easy navigation, server management, such as where file should be stored, and site maintenance and updates, since glitches occur and you will need to update your company information periodically.
The final category of website design is that of generating direct sales, whether by e-commerce methods - meaning selling products and services solely online, or e-commerce plus mail order options, which means the product or service can either be sold in person or online. An example of this type of website could include such businesses as a bookstore or a wedding supply store.
Encryption and security are significant considerations for your website - with identity theft and credit card fraud on the rise, it’s increasingly important to ensure that your customers are as safe as possible from internet hackers and thieves. E-commerce is possible because commercial websites can process credit card and other forms of electronics safely and securely, thus ensuring customer financial information is kept confidential.
The most widely used and effective form of encryption is SSL - or Secure Socket Layer - which simply means that the data transfer between your website, as well as any data entered by your customers, such as credit card information, is encrypted or encoded when transferred between the customer’s browser and your server. This technology isn’t foolproof in terms of invincibility, but it does assure your customers that their information cannot be seen or decoded by a hacker while the data is in transit.
The final critical areas of website design are security, encryption and your merchant gateway. Again, many web-hosting companies offer merchant gateways as part of their web-hosting packages, but not all do. There are any number of companies operate independently of the web-hosting sites, offering different rate structures and packages - check carefully their references and termination fees so you aren’t surprised with excessive fees somewhere down the road.
Generally, websites serve four main functions. In no particular order, those functions include entertainment, information, advertisement and direct sales. The best websites incorporate more than one function or category into their web design, thus making the website of greater interest to a wider audience.
In today’s world, businesses in particular are viewed as being behind the times if they don’t have a website - but having a poor website is almost as bad as having no website at all. Interesting graphics, flash features, videos, easy navigation - all these items are usually components of a well-designed web site. Unfortunately, most business owners lack the technical and graphic skills to properly design a functional and effective website that will promote their business and produce sales.
Once you’ve established the purpose and functionality of your website, it’s time to ask yourself more questions. Who is your target audience? Are you setting up a website to sell Barbie® dolls? Or trying to develop online sales for an investment business?
Not every website needs a custom logo, or flash components or video presentations - it’s much more important to have a professional appearance and functionality. If your customers can’t find your order page, are unable to tell what inventory or products you have for sale - you have a serious problem, and your e-commerce dreams are likely to be unfulfilled.