Let’s say you pop into the latest trendy restaurant for a nice casual meal, you walk into the front door of the restaurant only to notice something odd: you have NO idea what you are supposed to do: there is no traditional hostess stand, no flow or clear path to the dining area, only a chef with the chef hat and white coat staring at you with a large knife in his hands…. What are you supposed to do? How are you supposed to order? Why do Chef’s wear white coats?
We are used to doing things in a certain style and fashion. Whether it’s a retail store, fast food restaurant, etc., we ‘know’ how to do it. We know how to order our food, we get the whole drive through thing, we’ve been trained. The restaurant example above illustrates when the system breaks, when we are left not having a clue what to do…. Web sites are often designed in such a way that people have NO idea what to do. Sometimes a brilliant flash design turns into a perplexing maze of ‘what the heck am I supposed to do here?’! When you are designing your web site, remember this very basic concept: People need to be led to where you want them to go: lead them to the online store, lead them to the contact form, ask them to call you! Make the navigation simple, display your CTA’s (calls to action) prominently, lead and guide them to where you want them to go with no distractions along the way.
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