Designing and building a website is one thing, designing and building a website that sells is another. If you're committed to creating a website that drives customers to buy and keeps people coming back for more, you're going to need to do more than just throw together a bunch of content and graphics. You're going to need to put up the effort needed to make a great website. These web design tips should help you along the way towards making that happen.

Web Design Tip #1 – Know your site's purpose and always keep it in mind. It's easy to get sidetracked into all kinds of plans and ideas about your website. First and foremost in your mind should be the purpose behind your site's inception. Of all that you read here, this web design tip should be tops in your mind. A website without a clear purpose can quickly become incoherent. Stick to your purpose.

Web Design Tip #2 – Don't get too excited about those graphics. Yep, you heard me. Design isn't all about graphics, it's also about great content and easy functionality of the site. With all three, you've got a great site. With only one or two, you've only got a mediocre site.

Web Design Tip #3 – Keep the site interactive, but not "blocky" or demanding. You want your visitors to be interested in the site, to feel involved a little in the site's "flow" as it moves them towards your goal (a purchase, contact, whatever). It's a very thin line between this objective and the blocky, hard to use sites that often are the result of attempts at this. Just keep these two web design tips in mind: interactivity without too many demands=KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

Web Design Tip #4 – Do not over advertise yourself on your site. Very rarely is a website, by itself, an advertisement. Usually it is where people go after seeing an ad, whether it was a paid click on a search engine or a traditional TV, radio, or print ad. Regardless, they most likely came to your site looking for more information, not a heavy sales pitch. So keep the sales copy light and be gentle as you push them towards buying.

Web Design Tip #5 – Be careful how you use that "magic" audio, video, or other widget on your site. I know the latest buzz is all about audio, visual, and other widgets to make your site unique. This might work if you're in a mass-market where anything that makes your site stand out is an advantage, but most of the time, that's not really your situation. Often, these widgets are added to sites with the result that the site looks amateurish, or the widget distracts from the site's goal rather than aiding it. And by all means, if you're going to ad audio or video, make it professional: hire someone to do lighting, sound, and other things for you so it looks like more than just a YouTube broadcast from a web cam.

Web Design Tip #6 – Your site is never finished. You might think it is, but it's not. Always be evaluating, checking, double-checking, tweaking, and otherwise eyeballing your site. There's always a typo to be found, a broken link to be corrected, an element to ad or remove, and more.

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