How important is the design or look of a website?

Question

We have been oncentrating on content etc on our website http://www.shareworld.co.uk and now want to get the look professionally re-worked. How important do you think this is (style over content)?

Answer 1

its very important.

Answer 2

I would say that design is extremely important, I have bought or not bought from sites before based entirely on the design of the site, whether it look professional or not, and if its easy to navigate.

Answer 3

You will never "make a silk purse out of a sows ear" as the old saying goes, but if the content is acceptable then the "doorway" MUST be one you want to open...or forget it, it falls at the first hurdle.

Answer 4

not really that important in your case. all the website needs to do is present the viewer with text information and hyperlinks, so you are best keeping the website as simple as possible to avoid making it look like a devious scam or something.

i would keep most of the information as text as well, because if you animate it and put it on as a picture, search engines wont be able to read the text and place you where you need to be when someone searches for something that you can offer them.

another piece of useful info is that when a search engine scans your website, it first reads the top of the home page and then down the first left hand column. try and put all the relevant info there and youll get a better position in searches.

Answer 5

v important

if its a rubbish desing or style they think u are not skilled presentation is everything remember

Answer 6

Hi,

There are many ways to market a small business on the web.  You can buy banner ads, text links, or use PPC.  However, the best way is to get listed in a bunch of portals. Portals and directories are like phone books, and they often provide a lot of traffic because they tend to rank high on Google.

This portal is giving away a free business card holder for lising your business (I got mine a few days ago in the mail).  If you want to know about some other portals, just let me know.

http://www.i-seo-directory.info

Best of Luck

Answer 7

I think design is incredibly important. I'd ditch the blue. Hire someone to do it for you?

Answer 8

I like the site.  The content is very good. The only quibble I have is with the blue colouring - there is too much of it and it is overpowering.  The central block on your home page is particularly so.  I invest regularly and have bookmarked your site.

I wish you success.

Answer 9

The design/look of a website is important. It will assist in giving life to your site and will keep the interest in a positive flow. However, the content of the website is the most important above all. The content is what brings the traffic (visitors) to your site naturally through keyword searches  entered in the major search engines. Valuable content also helps to produce targeted traffic.

Your traffic should presell as well. It is the content that does the job best.

BEST WISHES!

Answer 10

The look of your web site is going to say more about your company in the first few seconds than anything the viewer actually reads. In fact, the typical viewer will determine in a heartbeat whether or not they even want to stick around your web site.

Today's Internet user is a browser. They tend to move quickly from site to site, looking for information that is of interest to them. So if your web site is not providing a welcoming environment, they are likely to move on.

Now that you have worked out the content of your site, you need to work with a designer who understands your target customer. The more information you can provide your designer about your target customer, the better and more effect your design will be.

Is your viewer male or female - this may dictate the color palate.

Is your customer younger or older - this may influence the size of the font.

Do you appeal to a variety of customers looking for any number of services? - This might dictate how the information is segmented on the page, or how the web site functions as a whole.

What is the look and feel you are trying to establish? Do you want to come across as cool and corporate? Or are you the guy next door?

Your designer might find it helpful if you were to list web sites that you have strong feelings about - either positive or negative. These can be web sites within your same industry or not. This will give your designer a sense of what you like and do not like.

Do not underestimate the importance of design. Design is what draws the viewer's attention - Content and Relevance are what keeps them.

Answer 11

VERY VERY IMPORTANT

Flashy images is a trun off! Pll hate it!

Font must be medium size

Answer 12

I think design/looks are extremely important.  I recently did a really big research project, looking at 20 different categories of companies, looking at 10-15 companies per category --completely rating them on their website.  I was looking at content and info on the owners..... as well as design and looks of their website.  I then had to choose 5 companies per category that I would want to propose a business idea to...

Best of luck!