Hvassing.com

This is not about server specifics, nor is it about what type of language you use when you create your site. It is about the mere basics of creating a good site. Part I of it at least.

Working with examples will make my point clearer, it's not at all difficult to understand or copy. Take a look at the most popular sites, such as Microsoft.com and eBay, they have a purpose. Microsoft wants to inform about their products so that we will go out and buy them, while eBay wants us to buy the straight away. Two different purposes, but pretty much the same approach.

When the user arrives at their opening page they take her by the hand and guide her through the site. Initially there are relatively few options for the user to chose from, however they are all broad and are likely to cover a lot of different areas. This is why the links on the opening page are so crucial; they are a cross section of the entire site. As soon as the user clicks on one of these links half the job is done, the user is on her way to find what she is looking for. With a broad selection to chose from chances are that she will find what she came for in the first place. Better yet, if the user wasn't sure why she came to your site it should be easy to see whether or not this site is a place to be.
And that's the whole point of a web site, it's never about the product, the service or the people behind it. A site is always about the visitors and how they can get what they want. By introducing a few, but broad, introductory suggestions to what the user is looking for the likelyhood of her finding it gets bigger. Picture yourself in your car looking for a house that you don't really know where is, you have a vague idea where it might be. It would be a whole lot easier if you had some signs guiding you at least in the right direction, if not the the exact house you where looking for. That's exactly how it is when a user arrives at a new site, she's looking for a sign, any sign, that will take her closer to her goal.

The links on the opening signs are supposed to tell the visitor where she is most likely to find the information that she seeks, but if the user knows exactly what she is looking for she might try to search for it.

Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.

Okay, what now? The visitor searched for something you couldn't find and so you tell her that. But would you really be this blunt if someone came to you looking for an answer or information? There are several ways that a search page could be written, the above example is not one that should be followed. If the user takes the time to search for something on your site, she expects you to find it or at least guide her in the right direction. So instead of leaving a blunt message where you're almost blaming the visitor for not searching for the right thing, give some good clues about where to start looking for information. Copy the links presented on the opening page, show an extract of the ten most popular pages or point to the sitemap.

These are a few easy steps to improve your site, and there are many other ways to make any site even better than what you think it is. More about how to improve your site will be posted in Part II