REAL ESTATE IN KEARNY/NEWARK....FROM A REALTORS VIEW

More businesses and organizations than ever before now have websites to provide marketing and promotion of goods and services and to open the lines of communication to a virtual 24/7 reality. Ian Loew, founder and president of LForm Design (www.lform.com), listened to the complaints of his clients concerning website designs—before they became his clients, of course—and decided to share his knowledge of effective website design so that others don’t start out with the same frustrations.

He calls it “pre-emptive knowledge,” or the ability for business owners to know what they want before they even attempt to have a website designed, or to choose a professional to design one. That could save a lot of time and aggravation.

Throughout New Jersey there are thousands of commercial ventures that have sites on the worldwide web, even though their marketing reach may be decidedly less than worldwide. Many operate within just their own counties or even towns.

A growing number of individuals and creative artists are also now using the web. The New York Times ran an article late last year about homeowners who supplement the efforts of real estate agents by building their own websites to show off their homes with even more visual detail and personal descriptions.

Website design is big business. Hundreds of firms in the Garden State are dedicated to the burgeoning field. Many of today’s commercial websites do a good job attracting new clients, though some have designs that are the internet equivalent of finger painting and navigation that makes a tax return look like a birthday card.

Designing an effective website takes special planning and considerations, as Loew points out to all his prospective clients. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Loew, who has also taught at the New Jersey Institute of New Jersey, founded LForm a few years ago and now has a client list representing an incredibly wide range of commercial ventures, from interior designers, law offices and dance studios, to architects, pharmaceutical firms and houses of worship.

George Cuellar, owner of Coqui Designs (www.coqui-designs.com), a high-end floral design firm in Cedar Grove, NJ, says he was pleased with LForm’s approach, particularly after nearly being frightened away from web design in general because of what he saw online from other companies. “We wanted our site to have a visual impact that would peak consumer attention, differentiate us from the competition, and be flexible enough to reflect the seasonal changes of our products and services. But we saw too many sites that lacked focus, took a scattershot approach, and provided too much information.” That’s why he thinks Loew’s pre-emptive knowledge is a handy tool for all newcomers to web marketing.

A new company based in Verona, NJ, Wildflour Designs (www.cakesbywildflour.com), recently launched a site that had to meet unique requirements. “It had to have a very personal feel, because the cakes we design are very personal,” says owner Bonnie Samberg. “I want people to feel like they’re sitting with me in my office and have the comfort to know that by selecting Wildflour they’re selecting the kind of individual service they won’t get elsewhere. I didn’t know if that could be done, until Ian shared his knowledge with me that it could.”

Loew based the creation of his “Do’s & Don’ts” list on the fact that businesspeople have so many different (and sometimes differing) notions and ideas about what it takes to build an effective website.

“I unofficially call it pre-emptive knowledge because I’m simply trying to help point out to prospective clients—not only mine, but those of my colleagues in the field—that when expectations are based on sound thinking, the easier it will be for the right decisions to be made at the initial design phase. Getting it right the first time will save clients time and money, and it will also help them reap the marketing benefits of effective web design the moment their sites go live.”

DO’s

• Keep the homepage simple. Avoid placing dozens of items on that all-important opening page. Remember: in web design people do judge a book by its cover, and they have every right to. A homepage does not mean that everything in the home (the home being your company) has to be there. What it means is that you simply want to invite people to come in.

• Keep the domain name (the website address) simple, too. It does not have to duplicate the name of your company or organization word for word, especially if the name is very long. It has to be easy to remember, easy to share with others, and easy to write down. If you have to shorten it, shorten it to something that really says what the company or organization is all about.

• Keep the navigation structure of the website consistent. In other words, if the navigation bar is at the top of the homepage, it should remain there on all interior pages. This is crucial. Also, the text of the navigation bar must be easy to understand. A long string or phrase will be confusing, and visitors to the site may not want to hang around long enough to figure out what it means.

DON’Ts

• Don’t use stock photography. You need the real deal. Spend money on a professional photographer or, if you insist on doing it yourself, a high-quality digital camera. Nothing beats originality. Stock photography tells many people that you’ve taken the cheaper and easier way out—and they may think that’s the way you run your business, as well.

• Don’t accept an eccentric or convoluted logo or corporate icon for your company. Just because it means something to you doesn’t guarantee it will mean anything to other people. Logos and icons should be bold, simple, instantly recognizable—and they should make sense as they relate to the name and the function of your company. Think of classics like the CBS eye and the Westinghouse W.

• Don’t allow bad or mediocre text (called web copy) on your website. Even a gorgeous website, graphically speaking, will never make up for text that rambles, uses poor grammar or tries to be cute and quirky. Many customers are easily turned off by that. Many company owners think they can compose their own effective text, but it really requires the skills of a communication professional.