As part of establishing APT Web Design, I had to think about a philosophy regarding my approach to developing websites. I was aware of my somewhat limited skills and knew I was not interested in developing a large staff to tackle monster websites for major corporations. My target market was, as myself, small businesses and organizations, be it in any industry. With a target market established, I then studied what were the major obstacles and pitfalls that frustrate people from using the Internet. Surely, if a small business did not present a clear, concise message on the Internet, they would loose the interest and business from their online visitors.
So, based on my own experiences visiting numerous websites and hearing from others on the same subject, I decided the following three areas would be those that I focus on while developing websites for my clients. These areas include:
» STYLE: As a proponent of the “KISS” principle, I believe that being too fancy with exotic background images or elaborate Flash introductions, though artistic and/or technologically impressive, can be a major distraction or turn-off. I believe a clean, aesthetic appearance (structure and design), consistently applied across the entire website is the most effective approach.
» CONTENT: In the financial world, there is a saying that “Cash is King.” Well, in the Internet world the saying is that “Content is King.” It is important that ones website contains a meaningful, well presented message supported by clear, concise, consistent content.
» NAVIGATION: One of the worst offences encountered in a website is not finding what you were looking for and then getting lost. A successful website will make it clear how to navigate throughout the site and how to get back to where you started from.
There is another old saying: “If you build it, they will come.” Many website developers/owners really believe this. But by ignoring these basic principles: Style, Content, and Navigation, I believe a website will quickly loose any visitors who have come. I believe that my approach of focusing on these three basic principles, a website can be effective ands successful.
