As any business manager, blogger or budding entrepreneur could tell you, building a website is no easy feat.   You can pay thousands of dollars to have a professional looking design, but that doesn’t mean it will keep people around. You’ve got to consider design as well as functionality when mapping out your web project, and keep your audience at the heart of most decisions.

Below are a few tips that can help steer your web team in the right direction and save valuable dollars on project costs:

1) Navigation: Map out a clear path of site navigation.  Walk through visitor scenarios and if-then decisions, considering how you’d like your site visitor to maneuver their way through the site from beginning to exit.

2) Load time: Make sure your design is not so extensive that it takes too long to load.  On a busy place like the internet, you are always competing for audience attention, and most visitors have very little patience for waiting.

3) Simplicity: Keep your design as professional looking yet simple as possible.  A page cluttered with too much text or images can confuse or deter visitors from doing what you intend them to do.

4) Purpose:  Each page should have a purpose and call-to-action.  Make it clear for visitors what you expect them to do while on a particular page.

5) Technical Considerations: Test to make sure your site will populate using the most of the major web browsers, including IE, Firefox, and Safari.  Also consider that different screen resolutions are not the same as yours, and adjust your design as needed.  And most importantly, choose a domain host that is reliable.

While this may not be the kitchen sink on web design 101, following these tips with the advice of an experienced web developer will help make your web project a sound investment for your business or blog.

Are we forgetting any?  Please share in the comments below.