Business Website Design, Items 1 to 50

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This section includes articles on general business website design. In our Web Commerce Today E-Commerce Research Room you'll find articles specific to designing web stores to optimize sales. Also consider Ken Evoy's Make Your Site Sell for a carefully researched sales optimization system.

"Business Website Design" includes 945 items
This page contains items 1 to 50

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1. Investor Relations (IR) on Corporate Websites, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 5-25-2009 Individual investors are intimidated by overly complex IR sites and need simple summaries of financial data. Both individual and professional investors want the company's own story and investment vision.
2. Top 10 Information Architecture Mistakes, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 5-11-2009 Structure and navigation must support each other and integrate with search and across subsites. Complexity, inconsistency, hidden options, and clumsy UI mechanics prevent users from finding what they need.
3. There are refreshingly inexpensive ways to refresh a web site, Fry says, by , Internet Retailer, 5-28-2009 Ways to refresh a website inexpensively: (1) Create templates that can be changed by anyone, even staffers without technical or creative skills. (2) Provide fresh photos, (3) review copy to make sure it presents the distinct voice of the brand.
4. Is Your Web Site Credible?, by Kim Krause Berg, Search Engine Land, 5-22-2009 We bring our judgments with us when viewing websites for the first time and make snap judgments based on a page's stated purpose, a sense of authenticity, and aesthetic value. But in customer service you must prove you're alive.
5. Must-have Features Your Website Is Missing, by Reid Carr, iMedia Connection, 5-11-2009 Some of Carr's observations: provide succinct value propositions and the ability to compare your company with the competition will reel visitors into your site, nable customers to share your content.
6. The Battlefield of Design: Designers vs Clients, by Paul Boag, SitePoint, 6-16-2009 Boag describes the steps of a “design methodology” that includes clients in every step of the process, avoiding the points of contention on what constitutes good design and achieving business objectives.
7. World's Best Headlines: BBC News, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 4-27-2009 Precise communication in a handful of words? The editors at BBC News achieve it every day, offering remarkable headline usability. Headlines must be: short, rich in content scent, front-loaded with the most important keywords, understandable out of context, and predictable.
8. First 2 Words: A Signal for the Scanning Eye, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 4-6-2009 Testing how well people understand a link's first 11 characters shows whether sites write for users, who typically scan rather than read lists of items.
9. Usability Study: Men Need Speed, by , WebSiteOptimization.com, 4-28-2009 In a recent usability survey, researchers from Southern Illinois University found that after ease of use, men prefer fast download speed to easy navigation. Women prefer ease of use, easy navigation, and accessibility. The researchers hypothesize that these different usability criteria are due to differences in how men and women use the Web.
10. Converting an Older Table-Based Email Template to CSS, by Armando Roggio, Practical eCommerce, 4-23-2009 E-mail templates based on HTML tables break more easily than CSS layouts. Explains how an e-mail template was converted form tables to CSS. The article doesn't cover non-support of CSS in e-mail programs, but that is discussed in the comments to the article.
11. First 2 Words: A Signal for the Scanning Eye, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 4-6-2009 Testing how well people understand a link's first 11 characters shows whether sites write for users, who typically scan rather than read lists of items.
12. Ecommerce Know-How: Selecting a Web Designer or Developer, by Armando Roggio, Practical eCommerce, 3-31-2009 Explains the difference between a designer and a developer. Says to check references; research shopping carts; bring challenges to your person, not solutions; get a statement of work; and note that experience matters more than credentials. Gives some cautions and price range guidelines.
13. Don't Neglect Details, Design, by Chelsea Ely, B to B, 4-20-2009 B-to-B Web sites get judged as much by their design as b-to-c Web sites do, Ely reports, as we're all consumers used to sites that are visually appealing. Advises marketers to review their Web site's design every 6 months to make sure it's current.
14. Must-have Features Your Website Is Missing, by Reid Carr, iMedia Connection, 5-11-2009 Carr offers proven elements that marketers can incorporate into their sites to make them work harder day and night, as intended. Some elements: value statements, communication tools, a clear process payment flexibility.
15. Developing Your Design Process, by Jennifer Farley, SitePoint, 5-18-2009 One of the biggest mistakes new web designers can make, is to jump straight in to Dreamweaver or other tool and start “building” before really thinking it out. Offers 5 tips for a process for developing your site.
16. Design A Successful Coming Soon Page, by Jennifer Farley, SitePoint, 5-14-2009 Designers are using Coming Soon pages to make an impact and to provide more relevant and interesting information about what’s coming. Screenshots of 8 pages adhering to 4 guidelines for a successful teaser page.
17. In the Quest for Innovation, Are Customers an Obstacle?, by Miguel Helft, CRM Daily, 5-18-2009 The Web offers designers and innovators an unprecedented and powerful mechanism to test their ideas. They can mock something up, put it online, and get immediate feedback. But experts say this crowd-sourcing approach has limitations and downsides.
18. Donation Usability: Increasing Online Giving to Non-Profits and Charities, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 3-30-2009 User research finds significant deficiencies in non-profit organizations' website content, which often fails to provide the info people need to make donation decisions.
19. Mega Drop-Down Navigation Menus Work Well, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 3-23-2009 Big, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
20. Six Easy Steps to Start Selling Online with OXID eShop, by Vikram Vaswani, Site Point, 4-1-2009 As ecommerce has evolved over the years, so too have the tools available to merchants looking to build an online presence. Vaswani how to quickly and easily build your online shop using one of the new breed of ecommerce solutions.
21. Rebranding Your Web Site, by Marc S. Levitt, Baseline, 3-25-2009 Levitt offers 9 steps that will move your organization toward a more effective Web site rebranding. Notes that most sites are redesigned for purely cosmetic reasons, overlooking the more crucial content, navigational and marketing challenges.
22. 10 Engaging Ways to Incorporate Engagement Objects, by Katie Wertz, SEO Newsletter (Bruce Clay LLC), 3-16-2009 Engagement Objects are applications that you can stick on your website to actively "engage" your user. Discusses objects such as: videos, podcasts / audio files, images, macros, graphs or charts, webcomics, RSS feeds, maps, polls, and life streaming.
23. Is Minimalist Still In Vogue? You Bet, by Phil Butler, SitePoint, 3-10-2009 Minimalist Web design, which refers to site design that has been stripped of all superfluous glitter, hammered down to its most fundamental features and the basic elements to support them, is “a balance between the way a site works and looks.”
24. 20 Sites That Brought CSS into the Mainstream, by Tim Wright, SitePoint, 3-4-2009 Wright provides links and screen shots of his list of "The Obvious, and The Not So Obvious" sites he's selected, explaining how they contributed to the overall advancement of CSS.
25. Introducing Joomla, by Andrew Eddie, SitePoint, 2-20-2009 If you just need to build a web site for yourself and are unfamiliar with all this HTML stuff, or you develop web sites for other people, Eddie says Joomla really should be on your evaluation list. It’s easy to install, use, and extend.
26. Yahoo Updates: New Round in Web Single Sign-On War, by C.G. Lynch, CIO, 3-4-2009 For your users' convenience at sign-on time, do you use Facebook's increasingly popular Facebook Connect technology? Or Google's Friend Connect? Or now Yahoo! Updates? Or do you put a button for all of them in the log-in and comment sections of your site?
27. Creating Custom Error Pages on Apache Servers, by Lee Underwood, WebReference.com, 2-19-2009 When a visitor gets a "Page Not Found" error on your site, is it bland and unresponsive or branded and helpful. This article explains typical error codes, how to use the .htaccess file to point to custom pages, and examples of some custom pages. It provides a PHP script that can be used, which gives a different response depending upon the error type.
28. 44% of Small Businesses Still Don’t Have a Web Site!, by Andy Beal, Marketing Pilgrim, 2-16-2009 While 82% of consumers turn to search engines to find a local business, only 69% of small business owners do so. Plus 44% of small businesses don't have a website, with 78% of them spending 5% or less on Internet advertising. Duh?
29. Survey of Preferences of Screen Readers Users, by , Web Accessability in Mind, 2-15-2009 How do visually handicapped people see your website? This is a survey of those who use screen readers, 80% of whom were blind. Lots of helpful information if your trying to have an "accessible" site.
30. E-Commerce Design: How to Set Up Web Site Navigation, by Helen Bradley, Ecommerce-Guide.com, 2-10-2009 Describes some navigation basics and design tips.
31. HP segments its site to meet the needs of distinct customer types, by , Internet Retailer, 1-22-2009 Explains how HP's site segments visitors, resolving conflicts between too many products (subcategories) and differing needs (customization vs. off-the-shelf).
32. How small merchants can build mighty retail web sites, by , Internet Retailer, 1-20-2009 Tips for small businesses: Roll out small changes incrementally, build a site for your current business without unneeded bells and whistles, use a triage approach to fix a seriously broken site, and listen to customers. Discusses the values of building rather than outsourcing functions.
33. Your Web Site Is a Deck of Cards, by Nick Usborne, Excess Voice, 1-19-2009 Suggests looking at a website as a deck of cards rather than linear with a beginning, middle, and end. Visitors need to know how to navigate to related pages.
34. My copywriting and marketing tip for 2009: Be honest., by Nick Usborne, Excess Voice, 1-5-2009 In light of low trust of corporations, an economy in recession, and social networking that leaves you no place to hide, be honest in your copywriting.
35. Choose Your CMS With Care, by Eric Enge, Search Engine Land, 1-5-2009 Select your Content Management System (CMS) with care. Problems could include: duplicate content issues, no control over meta data, dynamic URLs that change over time.
36. 10 Best Intranets of 2009, by Jakob Nielsen, , Intranets are getting more strategic, with increased collaboration support. Team size is growing by 12% per year, and platforms are becoming integrated, with a strong showing for SharePoint. Improving usability increased use by 106% on average.
37. Accessibility Information Webmasters Can Use, by Chris Crum, WebProNews, 2-13-2009 The majority of screen reader users are blind or have some form of vision impairment, writes Crum. Reports data on how screen reader users access and navigate unfamiliar sites.
38. Socializing all over the Web?, by , The Economist, 12-4-2008 “Facebook Connect” is appearing on some websites. Visitors can now sign into other sites using their existing identity on Facebook, allowing them to interact with their friends while on another site.
39. Kuler Adds Cool Data Visualization, by Josh Catone, SitePoint, 1-9-2008 Describes Adobe's Community Pulse that shows how the use of color changes around the globe and at different times of the year. Displays two different visualizations side by side, so users can compare data across locations or time periods.
40. We Don't Need No Stinkin' Web Sites, by Gene Marks, Business Week, 1-6-2009 Even in the Digital Age, many small businesses may not need to invest the time and money it takes to launch and maintain a full-blown site, Marks believes.
41. Interaction Elasticity, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 12-15-2008 Usage goes down as interaction costs increase. User motivation determines how fast demand drops, following an elasticity curve.
42. The Biggest Web Site Usability Mistakes You Can Make, by Kim Krause Berg, Search Engine Land, 11-28-2008 Don't ask people to "look" at your website, rather see if they can answer 3 specific questions: (1) What is the purpose of the site? (2) What need does it fulfill for me? (3) Is it responsive to my emotions? Explains how these questions zero in on important issues.
43. American English vs. British English for Web Content, by Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 12-1-2008 Users pay attention to details in a site's writing style, and they'll notice if you use the wrong variant of the English language.
44. Building SEO Momentum by Using A Consistent Site Structure, by Aaron Wall, Search Engine Land, 11-20-2008 Explains the SEO importance of planning the file structure of a site ahead of time, then sticking to it. Mentions a 404 widget available to find typos in URLs to your site.
45. How to Make Your Site Stickier, by Reid Carr, iMedia Connection, 11-24-2008 Carr answers: what does it really mean for a website to be sticky, why is it important and how do we achieve it?
46. Site Glitches Mar Start of Online Holiday Shopping, by Heather Havenstein and Juan Carlos Perez, Computer World, 12-8-2008 Analysts said that post-Thanksgiving sales in 2008 would likely have been even stronger than the 13% increase over 2007 had several companies, including Sears, Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue, not been hit with Web site breakdowns.
47. The Outsourcing Paradox - Part 1, by Maisha Walker, Inc. Magazine, 12-11-2008 Many small business owners try to cast a wide net to get a Web site built, but don't realize that you really need some technical expertise just to get through the process, know who to hire and then get the most out of the relationship.
48. Helpful Hyperlinks with JavaScript, by Toby Somerville, SitePoint, 12-12-2008 Somerville describes a way to indicate to your visitors where a link is going and to what type of file using iconized links.
49. Section 508: Uncle Sam's Guide To Web Accessibility, by Rob Ballou, SitePoint, 11-26-2008 Accessibility enhances your web site, allowing your visitors access on their terms, writes Ballou. Examines the basics covered by Section 508 and Web Accessibility Initiative’s WCAG 1.0.
50. Terrific Tables with CSS, by Jonathan Snook, SitePoint, 11-18-2008 HTML tables have gained a new lease of life in the CSS era, now that they have been freed from misuse as a layout element. Demonstrates how you can use CSS to create exciting, colorful tables which will work successfully across browsers.