Orthotown Jan/Feb 2015 - (Page 46)

practice management // websites USABILITY Five Common Web Design Mistakes FLASH By Nick Sagona our orthodontic practice probably has a website, but if it's not doing its job of bringing patients in the door, it might as well not exist. So ask yourself: How well is my practice's website working for me as a marketing tool? Most likely, it's doing a decent job but could be doing better. You don't necessarily need to have a super-slick site for it to be effective. But you do want an attractive website that's easy for people to navigate and to ﬁnd information. It should also be easy for Google and other search engines to ﬁnd. And, you do want to avoid pitfalls. Here are ﬁve common mistakes that are fairly straightforward to correct: 1. Poor Usability Your website is a reﬂection of your practice to potential patients, and poor user experience (UX) or user interface (UI) will make a bad ﬁrst impression. Visitors tend to quickly bounce away from confusing, annoying or disorganized websites. When it comes to your website's UX/UI, you should avoid: * Using pop-ups, audio, video or other intrusive elements * Using a splash or intro screen * Making important information hard to ﬁnd * Having broken links Remember, the user wants to be in control. Users are frustrated when that control is wrestled away so the website can shove an offer or tidbit in their face. Besides, that video you may think is so great 46 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015 // orthotown.com may not be that great to everyone. Don't start auto-playing it. Let the user decide with a click if they want to see it. I would lump the use of a splash screen in the intrusive category as well. Again, splash screens take users out of the driver seat and force them to view something they didn't want to view. Meanwhile, they have to hunt and peck for the skip button. Splash screens frustrate users by putting up a barrier between them and the information they're seeking from a website. 2. Using Flash There was a time long ago where my job was heavily devoted to designing and developing with Adobe Flash. So, today it seems a little weird for me to say, "Don't use Flash," but there is very little reason anyone should be using it anymore. Even one of Flash's strong points-web video-has been eroded. Most of the things that designers used to lean on Flash for can now easily be done with a combination of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. All desktop browsers have made great strides in supporting these new standards. Website use on mobile devices is at an all-time high and increasing, and Flash is an even poorer choice for mobile. Apple has never supported Flash on iOS devices while the other major mobile platform, Android, has all but given up on it. Avoiding Flash allows for a more consistent and better user experience across multiple devices. 3. Not Optimizing Your Site for Search Engines Building the best website in the world doesn't mean anything if http://www.orthotown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown Jan/Feb 2015

Orthotown.com Highlights
Embrace Progress: Greetings from Your New Editorial Director
Orthotown Welcomes New Advisory Board Member
Mouthguards for Patients in Orthodontic Treatment
A Dental Class II Case with Severe Crowding Treated with Self-Ligating Brackets
Digital Case Processing in the Laboratory: How It Works
Another Class III Case
Digital Impression Scanners and the Modern Laboratory: Scanning Benefi ts and Workfl ow Improvements
Ortho Townie Choice Awards 2014
Ad Index
Five Common Web Design Mistakes

Orthotown Jan/Feb 2015