Effective Communication for Webmasters
The primary aim of your website is to communicate. In
order for webmasters to convey their thoughts effectively they
must understand the meaning of what they are trying to
communicate and be able to evaluate the effect that their
website is having on their audience.
Your website should serve as a means to an end rather than as
an end in itself. Lack of clarity of purpose, poor spelling,
or sloppy layout will mar its effectiveness. On the other hand a
website full of gaudy graphics, animations and rambling text may
attract too much attention to itself, thereby interfering with
the message that you are attempting to communicate.
The primary purpose of any website is communicating ideas and
emotions that lead the visitor toward a specific goal or
action. Your website will be appraised, by your visitor, on its
ability to present your ideas concisely, clearly and effectively.
Communication Techniques
Your ideas may be conveyed not only by the context in which
they are presented but by the type of graphics employed,
(i.e. or not) colors used, and the layout of the web page
through which you are expressing them. All of these things will
have an emotional interpretation by your visitor and ultimately
decide whether or not you reach them with your ideas. Emotional
response depends heavily on presentation.
Effective presentation on the web depends upon three
things.
1) Graphics
Keep your graphics under control! Unless you are
presenting your graphics for sale use them only for emphasis.
Use your graphics to clarify or to give visual clues for the
message you are trying to convey. Never allow them to overpower
your page but, let them help to tell a story, present an idea,
or support a theme.
2) Colors
Color is very important if you wish to evoke an emotional
response from your visitor. Pick colors that you respond to
emotionally and then test them on your audience to see their
response. Never use more than three(3) basic colors in your
color scheme. This provides a continuity in the appearance of
your website.
3) Webpage Layout
Above all else strive for simplicity in your webpage
layout. The cleaner your layout the more likely it is that
your message will be understood by your visitors. A simple and
well organized webpage makes it easy for your audience to grasp
your content and act on it. Its better to add extra pages to
your website than to try and cram too much information onto one
page.