On so many occasions I’ve heard business owners say that their customers know their business and that they don’t need direction to find what they want.

What do you mean your customers don’t need direction!? Are you insane?

Web development is all about creating websites that are pleasing, influential and usable. If I come to your site I should know where to go to get what I want within in seconds. Here’s something to keep in mind, an average Web user is doing a search for “carpet cleaning austin texas” and your business comes up fifth from the top. The natural instinct of a Web user is to click a result, take a glance, and click back to the search results page if they can’t find what they’re looking for. They click on the link to your site and within seconds they’ve made the decision on whether or not they can trust you.

There are a handful of elements that users are prone to watch out for:

1. Does it look okay? - Often times if a site looks, in anyway, old or unorganized you will lose their business.
2. Are they clearly promoting what I’m looking for? - This could be as simple as a phone number or informative text.
3. Do they have a contact form? - Regardless of your feelings on internet based mail, it is one of the most visited pages on a site.

These are just a few things visitors immediately look for. It’s important that if you’re selling “carpet cleaners” or “carpet cleaning services” that you make that a prominent part of your website because if people are coming to your site that’s what they’re looking for.

Early in your sites planning and development you should include ideas that focus on the users experience.

The key to a successful site is to balance design and content with Web usability.