Website Design and Redesign Q & A Submitted by Brian Bearden, Zephyr Salvo Studios 713-481-3321 / 832-594-5390 / www.zSalvo.com / brian@zsalvo.com I will be taking calls on Tuesday, June 2nd regarding any Website Design and Redesign questions that you may have. I will also be providing free website reviews and critiques on air. CALL 713-783-8365. Below are some questions that I ask my clients that are looking at having their current website redesigned. 1. Who is your target audience? By know who you are targeting and how you can meet their needs is one of the biggest issues with a website redesign. Take time and interview some of your target markets. 2. What aspects of the current design are most effective or least effective? One of the websites that I reviewed on air last week was a 100% FLASH based site. The site had an appealing design but it took time for the site to load when you first landed on it. FLASH based websites need to download before you can see them. Too long a download time and people may have already left your site. There might be something that is currently working with the design that you want to continue with in the redesign. A good website design company will work with you to see what works from your existing site and what needs to be changed 3. Let’s work on minimizing the number of clicks it takes for a visitor to get to your information. The more you force visitors to click around your site the more likely they will hit the X or back button and leave. Instead of the word Products or Services, why not list out your specific products and services in the navigation. Or like we did for one of our clients we grouped the products under specific applications for the products. Two clicks and you were on the product that you wanted. Put as few clicks between your visitor and your information as possible. 4. Do you have access to the current files that are on your website? If we are going to make minor changes to the site or need an element off the current site for the new site than we are going to need what is referred to as the source files. The source files are the files that were used to create the website. In most cases, we cannot just get the files off the server and make changes. We need the original files that the site was created in. These might be Photoshop, Illustrator, etc type files. 5. Would you like the capability of being able to update the content of your new website yourself? We can program the new website that we design with a content management system (CMS) that will enable you to changes content, photos, links, downloadable file (.PDF), etc. It is important for both bringing people back to your site and for the search engines to find your site to keep your website content up to date. Call the show on Tuesday @ 3p-4p at 713-783-8365 (713-STEVEN-K) and ask any questions that you might have regarding website design or redesign. About Our Show Expert: Brian Bearden is a Director and website redesign guy of Zephyr Salvo Studios. He has a true passion for the web and is glad to share is advice for making your website the best it can be. Visit www.zsalvo.com or www.upstreammarketing.net to see a sample of his design portfolio or call 713-481-3321 to schedule your free website consultation, or visit his website at www.Zsalvo.com.