THE RIGHT STUFF: Top trademarks of great sites

SIMPLE DESIGN: Over using colors, fonts and graphics creates clutter and keeps people from focusing on your information. The minimalist approach makes a site appear more professional.

CONSISTENT LAYOUT: Each page or section should have the same look and feel in general. Don't have navigation at the top in one section and on the left side in another section.

DESCRIPTIVE TAG LINES: Right from the home page we work to communicate what your company is doing. If your business name is not descriptive, you need a descriptive tag line.

EXCELLENT CONTENT: You can get anyone to visit your website once, but why would anyone come back a second, third or fourth time? It's all about the content. Great content brings people back time and time again.

EDITED TEXT: The gap between presentation and what the users actually read is, by far, the most pervasive problem in web usability today, and among the easiest to fix. We will keep your font size at 10 points or greater. Keep your paragraph size fewer than 100 words. Estimate the absolute least amount of text your users will read on your site, then cut that in half.

USING TEXT HYPERLINKS: If you want to feature something, use a text hyperlink instead of a graphic. People have trained themselves to look away from graphics and rectangular boxes because they look like advertising.

STICKING WITH WHAT WORKS: Certain web conventions put visitors at ease and help turn them into customers. For instance, put your logo at the top-left corner of every page, the search engine in the first screen at the top right, and make sure all links are clearly labeled.

A FOCUS ON SEARCH: A site's search function is the user's lifeline – the more lost at sea he feels, the more he will grab for it. If your web analytics show a high proportion of users going to the lifeline, chances are your navigation isn't doing the job. You need to attack the problem by gathering usability data to improve your navigation and make your site the best it can be.

DESIGNING FOR USERS: Do not assume your target audience has the same skill set or likes the same things you do. With each site we perform a usability test with three to six average customers. Have them test the site by doing specific tasks.