Usability in web pages

Making sure your webpage is usable - or that visitors can find the products, services or information they want to find as soon as possible - should be a central point to any website design.

There are many methods, tools and products available that can help you improve the usability of your webpage; below are a few suggestions.

Search

Creating a text field that people can enter search queries is one of the most effective ways to promote ease-of-use in a website. It will often be the first thing people will use to navigate your site and can direct traffic to relevant products and information rapidly and accurately.

Site maps

Site maps, or other consistent navigational tool spreading through every page of a website, can show users the structure of your pages and enable them to quickly reach the part of your site that will fulfil their needs.

These should fit in seamlessly with the rest of your website design and complement the user experience. Navigational tools are often situated to the side or top of the page and should not miss out any part of the site, otherwise this area will not be visited and will be left neglected.

Taglines

Adding taglines to your front page and banners will ensure every visitor instantly understands what your website provides and whether or not it can meet their needs. It should be one of the most prominent features of your homepage and should be comprehensive and understandable.

Studies show first impressions occur very quickly and if you fail to capture someone's attention immediately, they are likely to go to a competitor's site to find the products or information they need. A clear tagline can demonstrate to people who visit your website that they will be able to get what they want from you and that you are an expert in your specific area.

Minimalism

Using minimalism in your website design will mean people's attention is attracted to the content within the page, rather than any aesthetic features. Web users currently expect and prefer minimalist webpages, which are easy to navigate, fast to load and appear pleasantly on the computer screen.

Many people have slow internet connections or will be visiting your site using mobile devices, so adding unnecessary graphics and images can discourage them from browsing through your pages further, purchasing goods or using your services.

Minimalist websites increase the usability of the page and are therefore commonplace and popular in contemporary web design.

Links

Web users expect links to change colours when they click on them. This helps with the browsing experience by allowing people to tell which areas of a site they have already visited. Typically, blue links have not been clicked on and red or purple links have been visited.

Maintaining this throughout your website will make it feel consistent with the browsing experience of other websites and promote the usability of your content.

Even the most minimalist website design should pay some consideration to graphics. This can promote a company's online brand, enhance its overall appearance and improve the perception visitors to your website have of you.

People will appreciate good graphics on a website, which can make it functional, easy to use and attractive to web users. Poor choices in graphic design will be memorable for all the wrong reasons and people might view your company as unprofessional and will not visit your website again.

Lining up

Different parts of a website, such as the navigation bars and search tools, should line up properly.  This will make your page easier to navigate and read, ensuring the site appears as a whole and does not confuse visitors.

Poor website designs might require visitors to scroll horizontally to find relevant information, with certain parts of the page appearing to be completely independent of the main site. This makes the page look cobbled together and could damage your online brand.

Moving images and flash movies

Some websites begin with a flash movie that must first be loaded on to the visitor's computer before it can be skipped and the requested content can be found. Although certain audiences might appreciate this, such as children, many people dislike this aspect of the website. While it might highlight the professionalism of the company behind the page, it does not promote usability and is commonly viewed as a distraction.

Similarly, internet users typically avoid looking at flashing images, moving pictures, text that changes colour or any other distracting graphics. This might be because these strategies are often used in embedded advertisements and people are becoming intuitive about how to avoid viewing these intrusive messages.

Optimising

Many graphics placed on a website will need to be optimised to reduce loading times for visitors. This involves compressing the file, which results in a slight loss in quality, although in many cases this is not noticeable. Many programmes will allow you to conduct a before-and-after comparison before you compress the graphic, which will allow you to determine whether or not to do so.

Although the average bandwidth achieved by internet users is improving, there are still many people who might find it difficult to download large files or do not wish to for other reasons. Optimising your graphical content will ensure they will still visit your webpage and you do not miss out on this part of the market.

Consistency

Many businesses have benefited by consistently having the same graphics throughout their website. This improves the user experience and can help firms promote their brand in the minds of their audience.

Banners and headers often feature the same graphical content on every page of a website and can be used to link back to the homepage, Doing this ensures visitors intrinsically know how to navigate the website and will enhance its usability and help direct people to the content they wish to see.

Call Sizzle Media today on 0161 820 8577 to find out how our graphic design team can help your business.

A good webpage should allow an average member of the public to understand what the page is about or the services provided almost instantly.

When people visit your webpage, they will want to be entertained or informed, to join a community or to purchase goods or services.  If you have a good web design, you will easily demonstrate to people how you can meet their needs. Visitors will not stay on your site for any length of time if they do not instantly feel that it will do this. Manchester web design can help in creating websites that capture your visitor’s attention quickly.

This is why there should be a clear navigation scheme and layout on a company's website. If people feel that they can instantly understand your website, they are likely to view your business favourably and have a better chance of buying products from you.

People generally go online to succeed in fulfilling a goal. You should aim to provide the information visitors to your website are looking for as simply as possible. If you do not give them the specifics they are after in a concise and easy-to-understand way, they will assume you cannot help them and your website will have failed in its purpose.

It is also essential for a web design to be visually appealing to casual browsers. There are countless poorly-made webpages, with garish or jarring colour schemes and a failure to appreciate the browsing experience common features of these.

Many web designers do not appreciate the importance of contrast when creating sites. It is very difficult for people to read lightly-toned text against a pale or white background, so your company might not be viewed professionally if the content on your pages is hard to read and visitors will be turned away from your products.

The page layout should be clearly organised and the colour scheme and content should blend together seamlessly, rather than seem disjointed and confused. Web users almost intrinsically avoid areas that look like advertisements, so blinking or animated images, flashing text and other attention-grabbing features can be counterproductive.

Content should be well-spaced and easy to scan, with short paragraphs, simple languages and common fonts particularly effective.

Consistency throughout every area of a company's online presence is also highly recommended. If users have already experienced your website design on your page, they will know what to expect when visiting other parts of the site. If the appearance of the pages constantly changes, users will begin to dislike browsing it and might visit a competitor instead.

Call Sizzle Media web design Manchester today on 0161 820 8577 to find out more.

People will intrinsically notice the colour scheme of your website the moment they visit your website. Ideally, you want this part of a website design to be subtle and appealing, rather than overly-dramatic or jarring.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the colours of your website. Although some of these will depend on your personal opinion or those of the web design firm you choose, Hopefully that will be us at Web Design Manchester, there are some considerations every business should make:

Contrast and legibility

Making sure the website text and images are clearly defined against the background colours of the website should be considered as the most important aspect of a website. Most people will find it difficult to read text that does not contrast with the background, and some individuals can even be colour-blind to these differences.

Black text on a white background is particularly popular, with white text on a black background also commonplace. Simplicity is a good idea in website design so more unusual colour schemes are usually a bad idea unless you are an experienced website designer.

Colour theory

Interior designers, painters and many other professionals have to understand colour theory to some extent and this should also be implemented in a website design. Although you may be able to intrinsically understand which tones go together and which clash, if you are unsure about it you may wish to read about this subject in detail. Adobe have created a site that helps you choose complimentary colour combinations, see http://kuler.adobe.com/

If you can apply colour theory in your website, visitors will find it easy on the eye and will be more willing to browse and purchase products from it.

Audience psychology

Understanding the demographics you wish to target can go some way in deciding a colour scheme for your website. Different factors, such as age, group affiliation, culture, preferred content and gender can impact the colour selections chosen in webpage design and other themes you may wish to implement.

Although many companies will only be able to make an educated guess as to which colour will appeal to their intended audience the most, you may wish to visit the websites of competitors or conduct a poll among customers to decide on the colour scheme.

Different colours typically affect people in different psychological ways. We will all be able to associate red with anger or passion, blue with calmness and green with the environment and considering this aspect when choosing a website colour can boost your company's brand and help you express the business' ethos.

To discuss how Web Design Manchester can help with creating an attractive website that is designed specifically for your target market, call us today on 0161 820 8577 or email us at info@sizzlemedia.co.uk.

Writing for a webpage is considerably different to writing in other forms, such as in letters, stories or for print. When searching for a product or service online, people will not read every part of a webpage but will skim through the site to find relevant information.

You should highlight words and phrases that readers might be looking for so they stand out and so your page is easy to navigate. Bullet points, numbered lists and text split up into sections can enhance the website layout and make sure people can easily find the facts they are looking for.

The posts found on the Sizzle Media web design Manchester blog will give you an indication as to how to prepare content for an online audience.

Sentences should be simple and easy to read and set out in a comprehensive and informative way. Sub-headings should be clear, meaningful and contain keywords so people know what they contain.

Reading on the web

Think about how you read websites you come across. You will probably scroll up and down the page, trying to find the information you want as quickly as possible.

People will expect a website to be much shorter than they might want their other reading material to be and will be put off by overly-long articles and complicated or confusing paragraphs. English-language websites will still be able to reach an international audience through their online presence and the language used should accommodate this

Although certain webpages may frequently be read in full, such as newspaper articles, recipes, stories and blogs, it is a more user-friendly and pleasurable layout if the text is punctuated with images and broken up on the page.

The F-shaped reading pattern

Studies have shown that web users typically scan pages in an F-shape. They will look along the top of the page and read the first few words in every paragraph to find out whether or not the content is relevant to them.

This should be a key consideration when writing for an internet audience. The most important facts and products that you wish to highlight to your readers should stand out and be located somewhere within this F-shape.

Other experts discuss the concept of the reverse pyramid. This means the most important information should be put at the top of any article online so web users and search engines can instantly understand the concept of the page.

Search engine optimisation

Search engine optimisation should always be a consideration when writing for a business webpage. You should take advantage of keywords, dynamic content and inbound linking in your website content to boost your position on Google and enhance your internet marketing strategy.

Every aspect of the textual content on your webpage should be written for readers and search engines and should focus on usability and simplicity. There are other considerations that must be made, such as the type of font and the contrast between the colour of the font and the background of the webpage. Website design professionals may be able to help you to understand these issues.

Social media is becoming an ever-more important way for people to stay connected and it is always a good idea to incorporate this into your company's web design. Networking online is becoming a vital method for businesses to communicate with their audience and other firms and ensuring your web design can attract traffic to social media profiles without distracting from the content on the webpage can significantly assist in this.

Almost every niche interest group and targeted demographic can be easily found and spoken to through a properly set-out marketing strategy combining effective web design and social media. Web design Manchester has always included social media tools such as twitter and Facebook in to all our websites, to help clients understand how social media can benefit their businesses.

Social media has become a feature on smartphones and other hand-held devices, allowing people to network on-the-go. The immediate future is likely to see a massive expansion in this and firms that fail in their online networking strategies will get left behind in this marketplace.

This is why it is important that your web design can cope with a variety of different platforms and is as attractive on mobile devices as it is on a desktop computer, as this will mean your business will be prepared to accommodate this emerging trend and should prepare it for the future.

Web design Manchester successfully integrates links to a company's pages on Twitter, Facebook, Google + or other sites so they can boost the business' marketing strategy; and as it is likely that social media will become even more embedded into everyday life as companies should aim to heighten their exposure on social media as quickly as possible.

There are many methods available that can allow firms to implement their social media strategies into their web design. Some opt to use 'follow' links that take users through to the company's social media page, while others have real-time Twitter feeds or post a tweet to lead followers to a new post on their webpage.

The professionals at Web design Manchester will be able to advise you in how to fit a social media strategy into your webpage, providing a consistent and attractive brand throughout your online activities and boosting your audience and the demand for your product.

If your social media strategy complements the web design properly, it can really benefit the webpage by creating a clear, professional and comprehensive appearance, enhancing the impression visitors will get of a company's expertise and quality.

Social media will enable satisfied customers to promote your brand to other people and this aspect of networking is also set for a massive expansion in the future. This is why you must ensure you consider how to boost your social media presence throughout your web design.

Web design should be user friendly and attractive to visitors, enhancing their first impressions of a website and leading them to spend more time on it, perhaps purchasing content or sharing it with their friends on social networking sites. At Web Design Manchester, we consider great design as the corner stone of successful website.

There are many aspects involved in producing a strong web design, but here are some key features of a good webpage:

-          It loads quickly

Although you may have a high-speed internet connection, not everyone in the UK does. Figures from OFCOM's UK Fixed Broadband Map 2011 reveal around 14.8 per cent of residents and businesses receive internet access of under 2Mbps, although 39 per cent of the region has superfast internet speeds of over 24Mbps.

Even if your site looks brilliant, people will not pay any attention to it if it does not load properly. Many of the best sites have streamlined and easy-to-navigate pages and avoid unnecessary graphics, such as Google's homepage.

-          Compatibility

Many people do not have a website that can be viewed properly in all browsers and on different platforms. There are many different browsers in use at the moment and although the majority of web users have Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome, you will miss out on a sizable chunk of audience if you fail to make certain that it works properly on other popular browsers, such as Safari or Opera.

Further to this, companies are increasingly making sure their website design accommodates hand-held computers and mobile devices and their associated browsers. This emerging market is likely to become incredibly important in the immediate future and companies that fail to design their pages in a way that is compatible with this technology will be left behind.

Computers nowadays are set to a vast array of screen resolutions and you cannot expect web users to change their settings in order to visit your website. Therefore, you should design your site so it can be viewed in all resolutions.

-          Clear

Casual web users will not stay on your website if they cannot navigate it properly or find the information they were looking for and will instead close your page and search for a competitor. Failing to clearly display the products and services available on your site will reduce your custom and harm your business.

It is a good idea to use inbound linking throughout the website so visitors can easily go between pages. Menus on the side or top of the page leading to all of the different areas of the site will allow web users to easily find the information they are looking for. Areas of the page that cannot be easily accessed are likely to be missed out in comparison to other pages and you will lose out on business.

There are many other factors involved in having a successful web design and many people need to contact a professional web design company to make sure their page is going to be successful.

A properly-designed website can help a small company reach an international audience cheaply, effectively and flexibly. Businesses can adapt to changing market conditions and trends and update their pages with new products and services through an effective internet strategy.

Good e-commerce sites are convenient for shoppers and are open all day, every day, allowing sales to be made at any time by anyone.

Internet shopping has rapidly become a challenge to traditional high street retail and is becoming a vital place to businesses to operate in. Bricks-and-mortar stores can highlight their presence, sell more of their stock and keep in contact with their customer base throughout promotions, renovations to their commercial property and relocations to other premises. People can be informed of new products and services and will be able to highlight a business to their friends through social networking.

Succeeding in online retail can boost a firm's profits by cutting out other expenses and enabling them to market and sell directly to their client base over the internet. Web Design Manchester are highly skilled at creating websites that attract new customers.

New business opportunities can be found online and organisations can find a variety of ways to grow by pursuing an internet strategy and rolling out a well-designed website.

In many cases, a company's first website will be a small page providing details about the services the firm provides where it is located and its contact details. These may function to give people who are already interested in the company further information about what the enterprise actually does and could even interest new visitors.

As the website and company expands, it frequently begins to use search engine optimisation strategies to attract relevant traffic and heighten the business' reach. It could also begin to provide a list of products and services and begin to become more expansive in scope. Contact forms, blogs and sales points are often added at this time.

Many businesses find their online presence is more effective than their stores on the high street and can find great benefit from using the internet. A simple, user-friendly and functional website design is essential for this and will ensure that any interested consumers will be attracted to the company and willing to purchase goods from it.

In some instances, the company's site can be designed in an ineffective way, which can lead many businesses to want to find companies like Web Design Manchester. These professionals can ensure an online strategy works to its full potential, providing a convenient and easy place for web users to visit and purchase products and services. Call 0161 820 8577 to find out how the internet can benefit your business.

At Sizzle Media our services include basic, business and Enterprise E-commerce sites and SEO services for businesses in the Greater Manchester region. We tend to work around the North West because we like to meet our clients face to face, shake hands, have a cuppa and do business the old fashioned way. Apparently for web design agencies in Manchester this is not the norm, where prices are given over the phone before even fully understanding what you require. As a RAR top 100 Agency we like to spend just a bit of time discovering how we can make a difference to your business, so we can add you to our client base that already generate over £700,000 a day through websites and marketing campaigns we conduct on their behalf.

If you’re looking for a Manchester based web design and Search Engine Optimisation agency, and feel that you’re probably not leveraging maximum results from the internet, you may already be aware that the UK E-Commerce market has been forecast to rise by a whopping 14% over the next year, to an eye watering £50.3 billion. It’s hard to believe that this online market hardly existed 15 years ago, imagine what the internet and business will be like in another 15 years, just the thought gives us goose bumps.

We appreciate that we are surrounded by economic uncertainty at the moment, but one thing seems certain, investing in a good quality E-commerce could give your business the boost it needs. Retail sales and the high street is diminishing before our eyes and traditional sales channels are becoming saturated as everyone is trying to fight for our hard earned money, yet the internet keeps on growing and those that focus on this medium are enjoying growing profits. To be blunt, there has never been a better time to invest in an E-Commerce website to make sure your business is making the most of the opportunities the internet has to offer.

Sizzle Media have been designing stunning E-commerce sites for many years, and have helped develop some very successful projects, from start-ups to blue ship organisation. We pride ourselves in delivering a very high level of customer service that has helped Sizzle Media Web design Manchester achieve the RAR Top 100 Agency outside of London 2 years running

Our E-Commerce websites can be tailor made for you, or you can choose a simple start up package. Once you have your beautiful ecommerce website in place, we will give you full training so you will be able to easily update your products and pages, and if you want you can use our Manchester SEO service too and get to the top of the search results for your chosen keywords, and SEO is something we are also very good with results that we don’t just talk about, but can demonstrate, however that’s another topic altogether.

If and ECommerce website is what your business needs, then don’t hesitate to call Sizzle Media web design Manchester on 0161 820 8577, and we will happily come to visit you, have a brew and do business the old fashioned way J

It’s that time of year when agencies outside of London are rated and ranked based on their performance, growth and feedback from their client base. Last year the Recommended Agency Register included Sizzle Media in the Top 100 recommended Agencies outside of London. We are very proud to announce that this year we have nominated again as an RAR Top 100 Agency Outside of London 2011.

There had been a wave of new entrants in the Top 100 this year as agencies grown and prosper, but we managed to maintain our position and represent a growing a number of Manchester agencies who regularly feature in the list.

The Recommended Agency Register spend months spent collecting and collating the financial data of hundreds of agencies, and compile the results of that research in to a definitive guide to the Top 100 marketing services companies outside London.

Sizzle Media website design Manchester have continued to deliver a high quality service to our client base and as a result; have again been highly rated by our clients through the RAR's ratings programme. The agencies in this select group continue to show improvement within their organisations and have the high regard of their clients, and demonstrated that they have what it takes to be successful in difficult trading conditions.

All agencies in the list must first and foremost deliver a high-level of customer satisfaction, an area that Sizzle Media website design Manchester have always excelled and is in fact a cornerstone of the business.

The full list is usually featured in the December issue of the Drum Magazine, but we are still waiting for our printed copy so we can add it to our list of industry accolades.

We don’t really submit ourselves for any industry awards as it is very time consuming, and we like to think that the results achieved for clients is our best testimony to our abilities, however, it's a great boost for the team to know that we rank highly in our industry and that client satisfaction has helped us to stand-out again in 2011-12.

2011 has been the best year yet for us and our client base, which collectively generate around £700,000 per day through websites we have generated. We would like to thank all our clients for voting for us and allowing us to help them leverage maximum results for their businesses from the internet and look forward to another successful year in 2012.