A Failure to Communicate
Regardless of the type of website you have or are planning, the most basic function of any website is to communicate. The effectiveness of this communication can be directly responsible for the site’s success or failure. When determining the effectiveness of the site and its communication, evaluate whether a visitor to the site can immediately tell what the site’s purpose is? Then determine what elements of the site help this communication and what elements hinder it.
Primary in a sites communication is the text which includes the language, grammar and spelling along with the organization and structure. Breaking up huge chucks of text with the use of headings, tags, paragraphs and bullets makes the site easier to read, promotes scanning and gives the visitor the ability to quickly determine the purpose of the site. Using appropriate fonts for the content type can also help the visitor get a quick “feel” for the tone of the site.
Images are the second form of communication found on a website. Images support the textual content and give the website more interest and impact. A visitor to your site will scan your images first before reading a single word, and used to your advantage, images can be a great way to entice the visitor to check out the rest of your content. A good web design will present the text and images in a well-thought-out structured way that delivers the maximum impact in terms of the sites communication.
Additional considerations regarding the way the site communicates are:
- Amount of whitespace
- Navigation
- Colors
When I think of a site “speaking” or communicating to a visitor, I think of the whitespace as “taking a breath”; the same thing as a speaker taking a breath. It gives the listener a break, a second of quiet in which to process what they have just heard, or in the case of the website, what they have just seen or read.
Navigation can tell the visitor what other information or products can be found on the site. Structured properly it can convey which pages are important or relevant.
Over 80% of visual information or communication is related to color. Colors can communicate in powerful ways. They can make us feel pleasure, happiness, disapproval, attracted, repelled, depressed, energetic, calm, or a myriad of other emotions. Colors can even encourage a visitor to purchase your product, but using the wrong color can have the opposite effect. Colors also have vastly different meanings in different countries or cultures, so care should be taken when choosing colors. Knowing who your audience will be can help you choose the correct colors to communicate your message more effectively.
Communication and the methods to be utilized are a critical factor in the effectiveness of a website and should be thought out well in advance of the actual site creation. Additionally, consider usability testing prior to launching the site to insure that your site does not have a failure to communicate.
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