| Abstract: A look at the area of aesthetic web design | | | | Find other websites belonging to other companies or |
| targeted towards small businesses, organizations and | | | | organisations involved in similar business activities. It is |
| sole traders. | | | | often best to look beyond local competitors and |
| Intended Audience: Small Business Owners | | | | potentially view the websites of comparable |
| webmasters and anyone new to the world of web | | | | companies in other countries |
| design and search engine optimization (SEO) | | | | Make a list of the websites that are appealing and |
| particularly those working with small businesses, | | | | note the items that attractive and may be applicable |
| organizations and sole traders. | | | | in some form to your website project |
| A website design combines various fundamentals to | | | | Note the use of graphics, the layout, colour scheme, |
| make a website successful. The function of a | | | | navigation and the general use of the space |
| website is to bridge the gap between an organisation | | | | All of these elements combine to focus the website's |
| and its online target audience. It takes more then one | | | | design to two basic factors; appearance and usability. |
| aspect of a website to produce a satisfactory online | | | | Where possible you should attempt to guide your |
| presence for potential visitors. The Internet is | | | | web designer in terms of appearance while they are |
| primarily a visual medium so the appearance of a | | | | responsible for finding the balance between |
| website is a key factor in the design process. | | | | aesthetics and usability. |
| Aesthetic web design does not have to be as | | | | It should always be remembered that the pursuit of |
| convoluted or as expensive as it may seem, with a | | | | a visually striking web design should never be to |
| little research and some creative application a website | | | | detriment of the website's content. The website's |
| with a high quality web design can take shape. The | | | | content must be accessible, for the visitor, by means |
| visuals and aesthetics of a website must be striking | | | | of a well defined navigation structure and organised |
| enough to encourage a visitor and stay and explore | | | | content. Internet users have notoriously short |
| the website. | | | | attention spans so the aesthetic design, usability and |
| Small businesses, particularly those embarking on their | | | | content must blend together as a single entity. |
| first website project are often unsure about how to | | | | The key messages of this article are that research is |
| approach the design component of a website | | | | a pre-requisite for good web design as is a close |
| construction project. To get started a small business | | | | partner type relationship with your web design |
| should: | | | | organisation. |