How to design a business site

[bummish]

I was thinking, is there a certain way I should design a business site? I know you should do what you feel, but realisticly, what should the guidelines be? All responses are appreciated.

[BC]

Clean, easy to look at, professional feel, to the point.

If your site fits all four criteria above you're well on your way.

There aren't any hard and fast rules as to how you should design a business site; each business in different sectors of the economy will have different ideas of what they'd like their site to look like, so you should ideally interrogate your client to the point where you have an idea; then create some 'example' pages and make sure your client is happy, then build away.

Also, spend some time looking through other business sites that are in the same field as your clients'; a search on Altavista and Yahoo! should turn up some business sites. Have a scratch-pad nearby and jot down the points you like and dislike about the site, then build from there.

If you do a search of these forums you'll also find similar topics to which many answers have been posted.

The very best of luck.
<Edited by BC on 01-14-2001 at 11:18 PM>

[jaiem]

Make it easy to navigate, easy to find info, not too many sub-sub-sub-pages and above all don't go wild with fancy graphics or animations that slow down load time!

[syanet]

Lots of white space. And do not use a black or dark colored background.

[Nicky]

Also make sure that you include contact details. At the very least an email address and a telephone number!

[goober]

Business Sites should:
[list][*]Be Professional Looking[*]Have Contact Information[*]State What the business does[*]Perhaps list news, announcements, customer information, etc.

But most importantly:
All corporate sites should have a feel about them. This feel should have to do with the image of the corporation, whether it be racy, fast-moving, or settled down and homely. This can sometimes make or break a corporate web site.

[Sparkie]

Don't make your users jump through hoops to get what they're after. Put your information up front and provide easy access to the product or service.

Make it easy to find help on whatever topic the business is about. I've visited way too many online businesses to find that customer support is nonexistant!

Hope this helps

[jaiem]

And also organize your text so it's easy to find the info. No one likes to read through pages to get what they want.

[lynlimz]

One important note..
a business should state what the company does, its history, background, and management.

Thats crucial.