Web Design Democracy – For The People & Of The People!

Democracy doesn't necessarily work well with the Republic. Rather, in order to be successful on the World Wide Web, you need to appeal to the masses of the internet universe and get their votes for you!

From Dictatorship to Democracy

Just like the physical world, the online world has also witnessed a shift from the 'dictatorship' environment of the past to a 'democratic' climate of the present. Earlier, websites used to be stagnant stones that used to impart as and how they liked. If you were patient enough to bear through their slow loading times and haughty navigation, you could wait to get what you need. Otherwise, not! Thanks to more demand than supply, websites could get away with their stubborn act.

However, with the evolution of the technology, more and more businesses have come online and set up their websites, as a result of which there is increased competition on the web. And with the advent of Google, the power has shifted to the users now!

Cut to the present, in order to succeed on the web, it is essential to appeal to the users. It is a democratic environment where the ultimate power is 'of the people' and the web endeavors are tailored 'for the people.'

Importance of Content

And what people want is information. More than aesthetic designs and flawless navigation, they are looking for Content. No matter how clean is your HTML, your semantic mark-up or how clever your meta tagging is, unless you have good content you cannot seek to climb up the search engine rankings. In fact, great content can even compensate for poor coding and push up your web popularity.

The web has evolved into a social platform. And before search engine place value to your website, they see what people think of it. If people are reading your content, talking about it on social media websites, linking to it, then automatically your ranks improve in the search engine results.

Designing for your Users

The people have the ultimate power. And that is why it is important to design websites for your users and not for your satisfaction. Here are some tips that will guide you to design with your users in mind. Remember, its no about what you want to say, its about what people want to hear!

Build for Spiders & Design for People

In order to boost your natural search traffic, start by creating compelling content that appeals to your target audience. Instead of focusing on keyword density, create concrete and engaging stories. Also, make sure that its easy to share and promote on relevant websites.

Get the Basics Right

The text on your website should be simple and easily readable, both for the search engines as well as your users. Determine the average age of your target users and write your text in a way that they can easily comprehend it.

Ensure Accessibility

Accessible websites score brownie points with the search engines. So make sure you have efficient headlines, link text and keywords in place.

Kabir Bedi is a senior web consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a premier web design company based in India. He leads a team of professional Indian web developers and advices them to create efficient web design solutions for their clients.