Websites are meant to be communication between your company (including the products and services you sell) and your customers, or what we call the people who buy your products and services.
But looking at many websites today, you would think they were designed for pure entertainment. This happens for a number of reasons: the CEO wants it that way, the marketing people think it’s the only way to attract web visitors and yada yada yada.
Again and again, most companies and their decision-makers don’t get the basic premise of a website – it is a medium of communication. It must communicate. There are no buts, or ifs. If it doesn’t, do something about it.
As Jakob Nielsen says, websites should be designed based on three main priorities:
1) Quickly tell your visitor what you do. COMMUNICATE.
2) Give them the information they came looking for. OFFER INFO.
3) Don’t confuse them. MAKE IT SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE.
Here’s the whole article by
Jakob Nielsen on “Growing a Business Website: Fix the Basics First”. A superb read, as always.