Yesterday we concluded a 30 part series on low cost web site design secrets. You can always read the entire series by going to the low cost web site design category.

Today, we’re asking a different question - in web site design, does function influence design? The short answer is yes. The long answer is “yes, but” and we’ll get into that in a moment.

First, let’s look at why we’re asking the question in the first place.

Many times, when people come to me for a unique web site style, they aren’t in the right part of the process to be looking for a designer. Either the site is already built, and they should have found a real designer before deploying the site, or they are still at the stage of thinking where they know that starting a new business means that they need a website, but they don’t know why.

One of the questions you need to answer before you go to a web designer is, “what will this website do to increase profits for the company?” The answer may be an indirect correlation - better public relations. In that case, you may need a design that incorporates a forum or a weblog. Or you might realize that you can capture leads or make sales directly from the web.

A public relations site is going to have a different format from a leads capture site.

Now we get to the “yes, but”. You might find out that you need more than one site, or a site that is built with expansion in mind. For some businesses, it is smarter to have one site for capturing leads, and another for getting visitors from search engines. Or you may need to have one purely commercial site, and another that simply exists to inform, which drives traffic to the other website.

If you aren’t sure why you need a site in the first place, or what you want your site to do, one solution is to have a short consultation with your web site designer and your marketing department before moving forward. Between them, they can come up with a plan for executive review.

Nina

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The Low Cost Web site Design Secrets series concludes today. You’ll always be able to click the link to the entire series below.

Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number 29: Keep Testing and Tweaking - Your Site Changes and Grows with Your Company.

While it’s search-engine suicide to have under construction signs on your site, your site is always under construction. When your company grows, or changes, so should your site. When you’re mentioned in the press, there should be a page about this on your site, preferably with a link.

Not only does fresh content help you get better search engine results, it helps the brand image of your site. An updated site ss to your client “we’re keeping up with the times, and are abreast of our industry’s technological changes.” Whether that means showing a client’s home in a real estate video podcast, or using the best reseal bags for your clients to take your cookies home, the update frequency and modernity of your site is a reflection on your company.

Don’t be afraid to explore new technology - but don’t be afriad to know when to draw the line either. Just because you can do Flash doesn’t mean you should make your entire site a Flash presentation. The fact that you can use RSS doesn’t mean you should if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Test everything you can on your site. Study the results and do some market research. The roll out new and improved versions of your site periodically. At bare minimum, add new pages of fresh content as frequently as your web site designer advises.

Nina

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Read the Rest of the Low Cost Web Site Design Secrets Series

The Low Cost Web site Design Secrets series continues. You’ll always be able to click the link to the entire series below.

Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number 29: Contact Information Builds Trust Faster.

If you expect people to buy from you, you’ll have to let them know you’re a real person. You really don’t have any other choice. If you’d rather they went to your competitor, you could provide them with your webmaster address and let that be the end of it.

That’s a handy tactic if you are completely overwhelmed with new business, and want to build up a wait list while you’re in such hot demand.

But if you’re not, you will want to put up every way that you can for your prospective clients to contact you. At least one email is good, because most folks won’t want to leave their internet experience just to contact you. A physical address is better. It says “We’re a real company and we won’t disappear as soon as you turn your back.” That means no PO Boxes - use real snail mail addresses.

Every new entrepreneur is afraid that some crazy stalker will get the information off their site and camp outside their house.

Well, A, that rarely happens. B, who told you to use your home address? Use your business location.

What can happen, is that you get Christmas cards from clients, and a little bit of junk mail. Fair trade to get more sales.

Nina

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Read the Rest of the Low Cost Web Site Design Secrets Series