Comments on: Designer’s website design

By: Fashion Incubator » Designer’s website design pt.2

Fashion Incubator » Designer’s website design pt.2 — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:13:59 +0000

[...] Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on May 31, 2007 at 10:43 am / Newbies, Rants, Reviews, Sales and Marketing / Trackback [...]

By: Quincunx

Quincunx — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:20:36 +0000

Try going to a broken link on this site. You get a 404 error and, instead of the default and useless “there was an error, contact the admin, etc.”, the BEST information possible to help you get to a good link instead. It’s almost a joy to find a broken link, because it’s never a dead end. At the very least, remove your site’s default error messages and make them link back to the main page instead of being a dead end, but much better to try to keep the user pointed in the right direction.

By: Fashion Incubator » 8 mistakes on your About page

Fashion Incubator » 8 mistakes on your About page — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:40:44 +0000

[...] Designer’s website design Designer’s website design pt.2 addthis_pub = [...]

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:15:49 +0000

I suppose you could make the argument that the use of music or other gimmickry (check the spelling on that!) depends on who your target market is. Still, I think that’s presumptuous. For those who collect hall-of-shame websites, here’s one that breaks most of the rules mentioned in previous posts…
http://www.knog.com.au/

And they’re actually trying to sell stuff here?!!

I think the key is: know your audience. You don’t have to go to lowest common denominator, but try to understand the sensibilities of your market.

On the topic of low cost websites, some hosting companies offer very low cost – under $5 per month, but I have not seen $10 per year. A highly professional image doesn’t cost that much, and keep in mind the saying “if you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur.” The investment is small while the payoff is large.

By: vee

vee — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:59:31 +0000

Please forward the websites for $10 a year. I would be interested because I have several other businesses I want to run.

Punctuation and grammar are extremely important. People do not realize how the incorrect spellings affect their businesses. I block all music unless I am on youtube.

This information has been extremely helpful because trends change and flashes irritate people.

By: Lisette Carrithers

Lisette Carrithers — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:02:56 +0000

Punctuation and grammar are, unfortunately, dying arts and are missed greatly. As I explain to my 10 year old daughter, there are rules for that so everybody understands what you are saying. This coming from someone that is wildly dyslexic. Music only makes sense on a website if that is what you are selling, I also hate the talking “ads” that aren’t really pop-ups so my blocker doesn’t catch them.

As far as ads of any kind on a commercial website to cover the cost, there are lots of ways to get the cost of a website down. I run several websites that cost me @ $10 a YEAR. Needless to say, I can live with one less lunch out to cover that cost.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:52:27 +0000

Because I don’t own a TV and watch everything on my computer, I do have the sound on. When I get to sites that start making stupid sounds/talking to me/playing music, I just leave the site. Immediately.

By: vee

vee — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:30:56 +0000

I just placed items on etsy.com because I want to get experienced in web site designing. Your article assisted me because I will take down my flash.

By: DesignerElla

DesignerElla — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:14:55 +0000

This won’t remain forever, and I know this is an older post, but THIS is what is meant by the twittery slideshow comment (I’m sure):

http://www.coach.com/poppy-us/bags.html

By: Tracey Valliere-Evans

Tracey Valliere-Evans — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 15:21:38 +0000

Great post Kathleen – simple advice, & I will invest in that book to improve on my new Website; it is amazing what simple, yet vital, things you can miss but once someone points them out you see how glaringly obvious they were!

Of course, you can earn from your site by cramming it full of ads but what does that say about your brand? Is that the image you wish to portray? If you are a new brand just after a quick buck, & don’t much care about your brand & it’s longevity, then having your pages full of ads could earn some pennies…but profitable customer loyalty?? I don’t think so. If you are trying to sell your product, & want to stay around for a bit, then you have to make your Website easy for the customer to quickly realise what you are selling; there are thousands of other sites that can also give them what they are looking for. If your pages are crammed full of ads, this could detract from your product; will your visitor understand what your Site is about?

This leads into making your visitor trust you; unless you are well-established you are not known, & you have to build trust. Customers who visit your Website looking to buy, want to know who you are & find answers quickly to their questions; a telephone, an address, shipping & returns policy, a Help, Contact, & About Us page…all this helps to create trust & basically works to answer their questions. (I actually did ‘hum-&-hah’ over whether to put an image of me on our new About Us page, but after advice I succumbed & it is now on there!?! What are others views?)

The suggestion for a ‘Review My Site’ forum is a great idea.

A great post – thanks!
PS Some other feedback I had was AIDA – I had actually forgotten about this:
· Awareness/Attention – make people aware you are there; great headline, promotion, pr, advertising, blogs, forums, SEO
· Interest – create an interest so that they want to know more;
· Desire – show them more, explain the benefits of your product features, how will it help the customer, make them want your product
· Action – make them take action…BUY NOW!