When it comes to website design, a simple design is often the best approach. Sure, it's nice to have the demo with an all singing, all dancing, website but before you blow the budget out of the window, take a step back and think about it.
What's your reaction when you go to a website with a Flash intro that takes more than a few seconds to load? Do you wait for it to appear? Or do you do like most people and either hunt for the "skip intro" link or - more likely - press the back button and choose a different site?
We're all pressed for time nowadays. You might be able to get away with a snazzy Flash video somewhere inside your site but it's definitely not recommended as the first page that people land on. Otherwise you run a very high risk of it being the only page they see on your site.
The next reason for having a simple website design is still based on the fact that we're all time pressured. It's make sure that everything on your website is crystal clear.
The navigation around your site - don't use menus that disappear from sight if you don't position your mouse accurately down to the last pixel. Also don't use menus that appear and then obscure large chunks of your pages. For an example of how not to implement navigation menus, the Royal Mail's site is superb. Menus appear and disappear, links are poorly named or don't lead to the place you'd expect, the overall feel is that you'd get a quicker response writing them a letter.
Any call to action such as a phone number or an "email us" button should be easy to find. Unless your website design is supposed to be only an online brochure, you need to make it easy for people to contact you. Your phone number should be visible on the screen without scrolling. And it should be in large enough type that anyone can spot it and easily read it.
You also need to make sure that any menus are logical. Keep the number of menu options on your main page to as low a number as you can get away with. You can always use submenus to help people find the page they're looking for.
Remember that not everyone arrives at your site via the front (index) page. Google will do its best to direct people to the page they are looking for. This means that you need to have a clear navigation path on every page of your website. A breadcrumb trail often gives a quick way for people to click their way easily through larger sites.
If you've got a relatively small website then a simple website design should be easy to implement. For larger sites, it's actually quite an effort to keep things as simple as possible. Use sites like Amazon (with around half a million pages) for inspiration on designing a simple yet highly effective website.
What's your reaction when you go to a website with a Flash intro that takes more than a few seconds to load? Do you wait for it to appear? Or do you do like most people and either hunt for the "skip intro" link or - more likely - press the back button and choose a different site?
We're all pressed for time nowadays. You might be able to get away with a snazzy Flash video somewhere inside your site but it's definitely not recommended as the first page that people land on. Otherwise you run a very high risk of it being the only page they see on your site.
The next reason for having a simple website design is still based on the fact that we're all time pressured. It's make sure that everything on your website is crystal clear.
The navigation around your site - don't use menus that disappear from sight if you don't position your mouse accurately down to the last pixel. Also don't use menus that appear and then obscure large chunks of your pages. For an example of how not to implement navigation menus, the Royal Mail's site is superb. Menus appear and disappear, links are poorly named or don't lead to the place you'd expect, the overall feel is that you'd get a quicker response writing them a letter.
Any call to action such as a phone number or an "email us" button should be easy to find. Unless your website design is supposed to be only an online brochure, you need to make it easy for people to contact you. Your phone number should be visible on the screen without scrolling. And it should be in large enough type that anyone can spot it and easily read it.
You also need to make sure that any menus are logical. Keep the number of menu options on your main page to as low a number as you can get away with. You can always use submenus to help people find the page they're looking for.
Remember that not everyone arrives at your site via the front (index) page. Google will do its best to direct people to the page they are looking for. This means that you need to have a clear navigation path on every page of your website. A breadcrumb trail often gives a quick way for people to click their way easily through larger sites.
If you've got a relatively small website then a simple website design should be easy to implement. For larger sites, it's actually quite an effort to keep things as simple as possible. Use sites like Amazon (with around half a million pages) for inspiration on designing a simple yet highly effective website.
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