There's a term in the Web industry known as "real estate" that defines the most important portion of your entire website. Real estate is defined as what the user will see in the browser window on the homepage of your website - without scrolling. If you do not provide the information or a recognizable link to the information your users are looking for quickly, you risk losing them to your competition. They’re only a click away, after all.

Logos & Taglines
You can also think of real estate as your company’s storefront because many of the same principles apply. First, your storefront needs to be clearly defined so that store visitors immediately know what product/service you are selling and what the name of your store is. Many websites do this through the use of a logo and/or a tagline. Taglines are nice because they can convey what you want a user to think of when they think of your product/service. This, in essence, is a statement of your brand personality.

What's on the menu?
Website navigation is one of, if not, the most important element of creating an effective, usable site. Much like your own storefront, you want your customer’s experience to be as easy, positive and friendly as possible. Think of the offline retail market, for instance. Most of these stores are designed with easily scan-able signs for the different areas of the store so you can find your section at a glance. In the same way, your navigation should provide an average of 6-9 different sections to choose from. Too many sections will be confusing to the reader who wants the information they are looking for quickly.

Keep them coming back
Another retail gem is that most stores are designed to keep the shopper in the store as long as possible. They know that there is a direct correlation between how long a shopper remains in the store and how much they buy. For the same reason, you want casual visitors to stay on your site and when they leave, you want them coming back for more. How do you do this? Keep reading »

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