Now that the Internet has become accepted as the way to do business on a local or global level, if you operate an online business you are facing a tremendous level of competition.
To be profitable, your website design must be created using the Internet standards that are currently in place and adaptable to the coming trends that are beginning to affect how websites will be evaluated by the search engines in the future.
The Internet has been called the "information highway" but somewhere along the line many Internet business owners have forgotten this.
One of the keys to success in website design is to structure your web pages to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information about your product or service as possible.
Website visitors look for Internet businesses to provide them with solutions; in most cases a person launches an Internet search for a product or service because they have a problem that needs to be solved.
If your website design is created in the way that is visitor friendly and provides the information they are seeking along with security for their personal information it increases your chances to convert your visitor into satisfied customer and customers into loyal repeat buyers.
Designing your website for easy content management is crucial; the more frequently you refresh the content of your website for more visits you will receive from Internet users and search engine spiders to index your web pages.
The way your web pages are organized on your website can make the search engine spider's indexing process easier and creating a site map as a part of your website design is very effective.
Including a site map in your website design not only accelerates the indexing process, it is also a great customer service feature; it allows your visitors to locate the exact page of information they have come to your website to find.
You can make your website design even more functional by including a search box to help your visitors to find related sections of information by keyword.
The more effectively you provide access to the information on your web pages, in the format that visitors are most comfortable using the more likely they will be to spend time exploring all of the web pages of your site.
The navigational elements in website design should be placed in the same location and in the same format on all of your web pages.
If the contents on your web pages extend below the fold of the monitor screen it is a good idea to include navigation at the bottom of the page.
On your interior web pages, use "breadcrumb links" that show the visitor the sequence of pages that they have already visited and always include a link back to your home page.
When you are in the business of selling a product or service, you must also consider how you can incorporate elements in your website design to help visitors when they have support issues or pre-sale questions.
For each product or service that you sell there should be a page that relates to order procedures, product returns and refund requests.
The Internet businesses that structure their website design to closely emulate an in-store experience for their visitors will have a greater competitive advantage.
Website design based on current Internet search engine standards and relevant content information are two of the tools required to successfully operate a business online.
In order to surpass your competition, you must constantly refine the quality of what you have to offer, your support and dedication to your customers.