About
My name is Viki Nygaard and I have been a web designer for the past 10 years or so. I became fascinated with web sites in 1997 when I connected to the Internet for the very first time. Less than a year later, my love affair with the Web turned into a full-fledged obsession when I got my first peek into the world of web design and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
The decision was an easy one. I quit my job as a bookkeeper, signed up for web design classes and turned all my energy towards learning how to design web sites that acheived high search engine rankings.
In web design school, I learned how to use all the nifty software programs as well as a little bit of programming. But once I started designing web sites out in the real world, it quickly became apparent to me that web design school failed to teach me a crucial part of business web site design. And that was how to create a web site that converts visitors into customers.
The sad fact is most small business web sites fail, and fail miserably, and it all boils down to one simple reason: Their web sites don’t focus on their customers. However, the business is not always completely to blame. More often than not, their web designer has little or no knowledge about designing customer-focused web sites. Sure, they may be able to design a web site that looks stunning and is entertaining. But, unless it is a supporting factor in bringing in sales, a pretty web site is worthless.
Which leads me to a very important point: It’s not just the design of the site that needs to focus on the customer, but also the copy and search engine optimization. The three - design, copy and SEO - need to work together in harmony and compliment one another.
Some of the biggest web design mistakes that I see over and over again include:
- Sacrificing usability for creativity.
- Bells and whistles that drive customers away rather than draw them in.
- Web site copy that is company-oriented rather than customer-oriented.
- Scattered and unorganized web sites due to ignorance of basic design principles.
- SEO copy that sounds forced and unnatural.
- Poor customer relationships due in part by sloppy responses to emails and inquiries.
- Putting little or no effort towards trust and credibility.
- Too much hype and claims that cause doubt and skepticism.
- Optimizing for keywords and phrases that aren’t targeted towards the customer.
And there are so many more. But the good news is, with a little work and knowledge, these mistakes can be fixed. And that’s where the “Learn to do it Right” blog comes in.
If you’re a small business owner who’s ready to start making money instead of throwing it away on a web site that collects dust, this blog will help you work towards achieving that. Or maybe you’re a web designer, copywriter or search engine optimizer who wants to “learn to do it right.” This blog will help you, too.
Customer-focused web site design is a rare thing. Yet it’s the key to getting sales and achieving success on the Internet. Master it and your web site will stand out as a winner in a web tangled with losers.
