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A common catch-phrase these days is “I won’t do business with people who do not have a website”.

Do you have a website? There is a clear message out there that you must have a website to give your business validity and a professional identity. A website has become a major sales and marketing tool. And the quality of your website has become a factor in endorsing the quality of your products and services. A website says “this is who we are” and “this is what we do” in a cost-effective and memorable way.

At the heart of an effective website is good design. Creating a well researched and designed

website that provides a positive experience for your visitors; that maximises retention and repeat visits; and enhances your profitability is the goal.

Many businesses find that establishing an effective website is a time consuming, expensive and confusing exercise. It takes heaps of skill, experience, and careful thought to build a successful site. It is hard to design and write content for a website.

You may have visualised your site, but you have no real appreciation of things visual; and you are not a copywriter. Then there are the technical issues and jargon. This is the time when you should seek the professional support of a developer – right?

No, this is not what many of you choose to do. There is the fear factor - fear of the cost, fear of dealing with people who do not know your business, fear of increasing your workload, fear of disclosing your intellectual property,  that stymies people into inaction.

And then there are those with a DIY attitude that has driven many business owners to develop “homemade” and often shoddy websites.

You will be judged by the quality of the design and content of your site. The effort you put into your website design will give your customers a sense of how much energy and commitment you are willing to put into your products and services.

Your prospective customer is likely to have visited your competitors sites when they visit yours, and decisions will be made based on the quality of presentation, ease of access and information located on your site.

It is likely that a passive and poorly designed website will lose you business. How do you then make a striking, informative and memorable website, that won’t cost you a fortune, that will successfully market your products and services?

There are some key design principles that must be followed when developing a website:

1.First impressions count. What kind of impression does your main page give, especially in those critical first few seconds? Do the pages load quickly? Recent surveying has indicated that you have no longer than four seconds to grab visitors’ attention.

2. Clear and obvious navigation. Is the navigation simple enough so that your visitors can quickly see where to find your products or services? Eight seconds – that’s how long you’ve got before visitors can change their mind and click to another site.

3. Fresh and alive content. Once the visitors decide to stick around and visit your site, you need to make sure their visit is worthwhile with helpful and up-to-date content, information and more.

4. Great marketing copy. You need a reason for your visitors to stay, to return, and to refer others to your site. Make sure you have a selling proposition that is clear and that you have a compelling marketing message.