When considering a website redesign, think about what the purpose of the redesign is beyond the aesthetics. Ask yourself what primary action do I want the user to take upon reaching our homepage.

When HR wants to add Careers in the main navigation, gently tell them that adding it would distract clients from the primary goal of the website but that it can certainly be within the utility navigation at the bottom. If someone is looking for a job, they will spend longer than the average 8 seconds trying to find the link.

Another common interloper on homepages is the news. Having a prospective client read your news is rarely the main action you want them to take. If the news must be on the homepage, then consider putting it below the fold where it won’t be a distraction.

Give your users what they want on your website. After all, your website isn’t there to announce the corporate picnic this weekend – it’s there to position your brand and drive sales!

Tags: online marketing, User-Centered Design, website design, website usability

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 9:28 am and is filed under Marketing, Usability, User-Centered Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.