It is well known that first impressions are very powerful. In the world of web design, studies have shown that a visitor can form an opinion of a company based off the websites design in as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second). This is precisely the reason it is so important for businesses to put their best foot forward when it comes to their image on the web. A company’s website is one place that can give great returns on the investment if it is nicely designed & properly built while a poorly designed website can have a negative impact that sends visitors looking elsewhere. Here are some of the common pitfalls of a poorly designed website.

It all starts with the design. The design is what makes the first impression and therefore it really is a vital component of a website. There are many design features that can make or break a website.

Color – Do the colors overwhelm or complement and enhance the content. Color choice is known to invoke emotional responses and therefore it is a fundamental component in appropriately representing and even identifying the business. A good question to ask is are the colors a logical choice for this business and do they integrate well with the companies brand identity. If you are unsure about it, take a stroll through Google and check out some of the articles on color theory. Here is a great piece on “Why Color Matters“.

Layout – Ever been to a website that has content here there and everywhere leading you to feel overwhelmed and racing towards the back button? The layout of the website is really important. It’s job is to effortlessly guide a visitor logically through the website while showcasing the most important information. A couple of vital structures to a well designed website layout is good, easily found navigation and sufficient amounts of white space.

There are many websites out there that make you feel like you have a better chance at winning the lottery than finding the page you need. Navigation is the core of every website. It is how you get past the home page and into the real meat of the content. That is precisely why the navigation bar of the website should be logically placed and easily spotted.

One component often lacking in a poorly designed website is white space. Defined simply, it is the areas of the page without print or images. White space increases the readability and sets off the design elements of the website. Too much crowding can overwhelm the design and the visitor. This is one of those instances in life where less can be more.

Content – Ultimately when it comes to a website, content is key. When content is poorly written, out of date and deficient of relevant keywords it will manifest itself with low search engine rankings and high bounce rates. Unique, compelling and up to date content will keep visitors engaged and appropriately placed keywords combined with fresh content can strengthen search engine rankings.

Poorly designed websites tend to rank low on search engines often because the creator was not proficient in current SEO practices. Although there is no way to guarantee a number one spot on Google, there are many standards that can be implemented into the structure of the website to increase SEO and produce higher levels of traffic.

Validate – Poor websites don’t validate. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) sets international standards for programming and mark up languages. These standards ensure that a website is cross browser compatible and accessible for all including those with disabilities. Today we view websites from many different types of devices and with many different browsers. Ensuring that a website is compliant will aid in proper rendering across devices & browsers so that all visitors are seeing the pages as they were meant to be seen.

Investing in a nicely designed well built website that avoids some of the common pitfalls can expand and promote a business and ultimately pays off with increased traffic and higher revenues.

Back to School iGoogle Theme

Get the iGoogle theme here.

Back to School Firefox Persona

Get the Firefox Persona here.

Back to School Wallpaper

Click on your resolution size to download the appropriate sized wallpaper.

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Here is a screenshot of the iGoogle theme:

You can get the Firefox Persona here.

And here are the wallpapers:

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iGoogle Theme

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“Halloween Haunt” Persona

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“Halloween Glow” Persona

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I often spend time looking up the newest and best add-ons and when doing so recently I came across “Personas”. Personas is a ” lightweight, easy-to-install and easy-to-change skins” add-on for the Firefox web browser. What is really cool is the ability for anybody to easily create their own skin. Using the Personas website, you are walked through each step of the process with detailed instructions. After being approved by the Personas team, your skin becomes live and available to use personally, or with your consent, for anyone to use under a creative commons license.

One of the coolest features of Personas is the ability to look through their gallery, hover over the skin and have it temporarily apply itself so that you can see how it will look. You know how it goes, you have to try it on to make sure it fits. It looks like the developers took that old adage and applied it well here. FYI…the Personas add-on must be installed for this feature to work.

Inspired by the first day of Autumn, I quickly got to work creating a fast but cute skin for myself. It really was very easy and I can see that in my free time I will get to creating a few more skins. You can see & use my skin by visiting the Personas website and searching under seasonal. I named it Autumn Breeze.

I also created a simple matching wallpaper. You can download it by clicking your resolution below. If you don’t see your size, let me know and I can create and upload it for you.

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UPDATE: September 11, 2010

I’ve gotten many emails asking for this wallpaper without the words so here it is.

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I also created an iGoogle theme in this design. I’m really excited about it. It’s really cute!

Enjoy & I hope autumn is showing it’s beautiful colors in your neighborhood.

I will start by opening Microsoft Outlook. At the top left of the screen click on “Tools” and then “Options”.

Then click on the “Mail Setup” tab at the top and click on “E-mail Accounts”.

Next click on “New”.

Choose Microsoft Exchange, Pop3, IMAP, or HTTP and click “Next”.

I recommend manually entering your information to make sure you meet all the requirements of your hosting service.  Check the box next to “Manually configure server settings” and then click “Next”.

Choose “Internet E-mail” and click “Next”.

Fill out your information.  This is where it is extremely helpful to have your email settings from your provider.  FYI… if you are a lunarpages customer the + instead of @ under the Logon Information is required.  Next click on the “More Settings” in the lower right hand corner.

If you are a Lunarpages customer, your outgoing server requires authentication, so you will need to click that box on the “Outgoing Server” tab.  If you don’t have Lunarpages, you will need to check and see what your email settings are.  When you are done with that click the “Advanced” tab at the top.

I usually leave the default settings on this tab, but some email providers and Internet Service Providers (ISP) require certain port settings.  You can change your port settings here to comply with those needs.  When you are finished click “OK”.

Next click on the “Test Account Settings”.

If all of your settings are correct you should see two green check marks.  Click “Close” and then click “Next” & “Finish.

Your all done!