Websites by Lyz Cordon, Web Designer in Leeds with Conversion Rate Optimisation skills so your site generates more enquiries

This is an interesting discussion posted by conversion rate expert Sandra Niehaus on SearchEngineLand.com and an issue I feel strongly about – and as a website owner/manager you’ll find this interesting reading too… Here’s an excerpt from her article to set the scene: “Recently, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the conversation rate optimization (CRO) community—blaming low conversion rates on web designers. Designers are being caricatured as either “clueless” or unable to restrain their conversion-killing creative impulses. How valid is this view? In my experience, there’s plenty of blame to go around for poor CRO performance. Let’s name some names…”

You may have noticed the tiny magnifying glass icon that is now appearing next to listings in Google – that’s Google Instant Preview. When you hover your mouse over it, this icon allows you to see a preview of the page listed. With this function in the search results, you have less than a second to impress potential visitors. And that’s no exaggeration: less than one second! That’s all the time it takes for internet users to decide whether or not to visit your site – and bear in mind that all they can see is the overall design, not the actual content.

A lot of businesses use WordPress as a handy blogging tool. I can tell you, WordPress isn’t just useful for your blog, but has benefits that can be seen throughout your site. WordPress can be excellent for managing content, and has plenty of helpful design elements besides.

Diving into the world of domain names is a complicated affair. It’s impossible to grasp everything at once. Like everything else to do with running your own website, you have to have a little patience, and be willing to research and learn. Your domain name might not seem to have a big effect on your website, but it does. Knowing about how domain names work, and being able to pick the right one, is an important part of web design and making an online success of your site.

The other day I logged on to a friend’s new site and cringed. Not because the site wasn’t pretty – it was. It was smooth, slick, and obviously professionally designed. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t find my way around it. ‘Usability’ is a bit of a watchword with me. As a web designer, I know that websites have to do a lot more than just look pretty. It’s entirely possible to have a beautiful site that is easy for people to use, but often it seems like designers hit one target and not the other. This is why it’s a good idea to have a review to improve your site’s usability.

How many times have you visited the homepage of a website and thought “ugh!” before clicking the ‘back’ button as quickly as you can? We’ve all done it at some point, whether it’s because it was poorly designed, not well signposted or just plain ugly. Your home page acts as a first point of contact for so many of your customers, it’s important to get it right. A good home page can make the difference between a new customer or a false lead – and a bad home page can do exactly the same thing.

Website design is like a lot of things; anyone can do it but not everyone can do it well. Technically you could design and make yourself a new suit but you probably wouldn’t dream of it because you know it would never look as good as one you’d bought… or had custom made if you’re very lucky! A Saville Row tailor has years of training and experience to know exactly how to make a suit just for you, how to recommend the fabric and cut that makes you look the very best you can. A professional website designer will do the same job for you online. A top-notch web designer can portray you and your business in the very best light to maximise on sales and conversions. So before you decide to make you own website consider my top three reasons why you should employ a professional website designer…

The other week I finally got around to replacing an interior door in my house. Being as I don’t have access to a van large enough to transport a door I thought I’d buy it online and get it delivered. What could possibly go wrong?

If you’re a web designer, programmer, publisher, or you pay the bills for a web site you need this book. Don’t Make Me Think is a book I had on my Amazon Wish List for months but somehow never got around to reading. Until that is I went to see a prospective client. I did a quick review of his website with him, talking through what was good and what could be improved. At the end he asked me: “Have you read Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug, a lot of what you’re saying is in line with what’s in the book”. This book costs less than £15 and could literally save you a fortune.

Here’s a quick tutorial to show you how I made my lovely stylised ‘Pay Now’ button in just 10 steps and 15 minutes… Follow these step-by-step instructions to create your own slick 3d web button using PhotoShop Layer Styles. Layer Styles are something I’ve recently started using to create allsorts of great effects in my web designs. Once you’ve been through this tutorial I’m pretty sure you’ll be using them over and over too.