There are three key elements in order to have a successful website:  <br />1. A marketing strategy that makes the site an extension of your brand<br />2. Effective SEO to touch the correct audience and make your site get viewed<br />3. A user-friendly, content rich, and aesthetically pleasing design<br /><br />In order to effectively achieve these three elements, a company must first identify what they want their site to accomplish.  Is this site a way to develop lead generation?  Is the site purely for information distribution?  Do you want to display your products/services for consumers to purchase online?  Whatever the purpose of the site may be, there must be a strategic plan in place.  Milestones and critical dates must be set up for review of the site.  It is important to evaluate what is working and what is not.  In order to touch the correct audience, SEO strategies must be evaluated.  Keep your site in front of the correct audience by developing Google Ad Word strategies and social networking/media components.  Finally, a web site needs to have strong design. <br /><br />Within this element, there are three parts to deeming it worthy of the title, “good design”:<br />1. usability/functionality<br />2. strong content<br />3. aesthetic presentation<br /><br />Many websites achieve one or two of the three areas, but very few successfully bring the three together.  For instance, a website is functional and the content is easy to understand and valuable, however the color scheme is black, orange, red and yellow with a pixilated logo and a scanned photo of the staff.  The company managed to secure (1) usability/functionality and (2) strong content, but not (3) aesthetic presentation.  Companies must achieve a balance between all three of these areas for successful penetration to the end user.<br /><br />Keep in mind that good design transcends technology.  Interestingly enough, there were many well-designed websites in the mid 90’s that successfully communicated their brand message well and eventually went on to become multi-billion dollar companies.<br /><br />The Old Apple Site:<br /></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJN_qauZMaI/AAAAAAAAAOE/xc0AqgIoEE4/s1600-h/applescreenshot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJN_qauZMaI/AAAAAAAAAOE/xc0AqgIoEE4/s320/applescreenshot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229663959012422050" /></a><br /></p><br />The New Apple Site:<br /></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJN_yiHFJVI/AAAAAAAAAOM/_XEBrVOgSpg/s1600-h/apple1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJN_yiHFJVI/AAAAAAAAAOM/_XEBrVOgSpg/s320/apple1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229664098433967442" /></a><br /></p><br /><br />There are many complicated elements to successful web design (grid theory, the rule of thirds, unity, harmonious color schemes, etc.), but complete focus on the three areas that I have gone through previously will always result in a website that engages a user and in turn encourages repeat visits.  A successful website allows for the end-user to be pleased with the design that displays the company’s brand and the content that clearly communicates their message.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Case Study: Caring Hands Chiropractic</span><br />Caring Hands Chiropractic has been successfully practicing in Denver for over 10 years. The client wanted the website to be less sterile and more comforting. Brand Iron was hired to recreate the brand, and in the process created a successful new website that re-enforces the brand message and communicates well with the end-user. Take a look at the before and after versions of CaringHandsChiro.com<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJM25v7QbcI/AAAAAAAAAN0/JC9DSJfjlfg/s1600-h/chc.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJM25v7QbcI/AAAAAAAAAN0/JC9DSJfjlfg/s320/chc.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229583958052728258" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJM3I1XnkkI/AAAAAAAAAN8/A_PvPh6TB60/s1600-h/chc2.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_W3-wyNo_VuQ/SJM3I1XnkkI/AAAAAAAAAN8/A_PvPh6TB60/s320/chc2.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229584217211900482" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Written by Andrew Hoffman, Brand Iron Design Bandit</span>