e - A d v e n t u r e

In today's current market, almost each person has a web site of some kind. However, most companies fight to see any real business development from their site. The truth is, no matter how well structured your web site is, it is not triumphant until it is found by the target market. Millions of buyers are using Internet search engines to find products and services every day, not only having an attractive website, but also a web presence that converts into sales for the organisation. Below are some considerations for proper and effective web designs

Website content
• What is new, section to direct users, to up to date information, and attention grabbers
• Last opted in trailer which would assist the user in checking for recent changes
• Added value; order of information in a way that would appeal to the users
• Collection of data so that way the web site could be used as a reference.
• Logical – “Divide site into categories, label pages, most sites need multi-level navigation, plan accordingly.” This is important as it gives an easy layout so that visitors can easily identify the data and find the right category. It also allows the designer to have different sections for different data also meaning it easier to add on new information.


Page layout
• Consistency; same look or feel throughout all the web pages which would be based on template, author contact information date and copyrights if any
• Familiarity; logo at the top left hand site and a link to the homepage, also the colour text and scheme should relate to the companies norms that is consistent with other media
• Accessibility and legibility; users may have sight issues, enlarged fonts, will colour blindness be a disadvantage to some users, the content must be easy to read, use of plain common fonts and also avoiding patterned background to text.
• Ease of access – “Multiple routes, so the user has alternative ways to get to the data.” This allows the user to easily move through the site, finding the best way to access the desired data and makes it easier to use for all users.




Navigations and design consideration
• Logical; divide the site into different categories and well labelled and structured pages
• Ease of access; allow the use of multiple access routes so users can have alternative ways to get data and also share information, finally and most importantly return users to the access point when they are finished
• Images – “Remove unnecessary images, reduce file size – crop to subject, lower colour count, and use compression.” This involves making images the right size relevant to the information, only have images that are necessary and add to the website.


Download speed
• Most users are not as patient and normally it is thought that they will move on should a page take longer than some seconds so down load speeds should be considered.

Images
This is the most essential part as the saying goes “a picture says a thousand words” during the creation of web or in its infancy unnecessary images should be removed, reduction of file size, crop to subject, lower count the use of compressions with(jpg) speed rendering by specifying some of the attributes. Alternatives to images – “Replace text images by text with a coloured background.” This adds more colour on a website, however, using colour needs to be done carefully and only certain colours used that add to the appeal of the website design.
http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~cckhrb/webdev/design/factor.htm


REFERENCES
http;//eis.bris.ac.uk/~cckhrb/webdev/design/factor.htm retrieved 03-04-2010 23;5
http;//www.thecxogroup.com/intro-website-strategies-design-development.htm
Baron, K. (2009). WEBSITE DESIGN FACTORS. Available: http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~cckhrb/webdev/design/factor.htm
Last accessed 05/04/2010.
(2010). Online Tools for small businesses. Available: http://southafrica.smetoolkit.org/sa/en/content/en/4813/Online-Tools-for-small-businesses
Last accessed 05/04/2010