It’s also great if you need to set up a website in a pinch and you have have problem getting enough content to populate your pages.  Sometimes, not saying too much is the best way to go.

Anyway,  for your inspiration we’ve gathered a selection of some really cool, minimalist web designs.  Enjoy!

Oskar Kron

Sam Frith

Fastlikerabbit

Nadie Parshina

Medium

Johny Favourite

Iconwerk

Ciro Esposito

Ah

Toy

A good web designer (*ahem*) would be able to help you plan your content and help you decide how to have all that content flow seamlessly without breaking the user experience.  It would be a nightmare for your users to have to scroll left and right to find a piece of information they glimpse somewhere.

Here are a few web designs with horizontal layouts for your inspiration.

Love Bento

Nile Inside

Lucama

Synth

Stephane Tartelin

Zuba Dupa

Sockho

Lomotek

Suie Paparude

Gavin Casteletom

Foehn

Songkick

Aurelien Reaut

Us Trendy

Rareview

Iluminasom

AeroFX

Staak

Icon Dock

Causecast

If you’ve made the mental leap and are ready to modernize the look of your logo, here are some fonts for your consideration.  Using typography for logos is becoming increasingly popular on the web (think YouTube, eBay, Facebook.. you get it) and if that’s where you’re heading, Dzine’s compiled a list of very cool 2.0 fonts for download.

Here’s a sample of some of the fonts.

Rezland

Ubuntu Title

Tuffy

Photonica

Moderna

Arista

Lacuna

DustHome

Tin Birdhouse

Delicious

You The Designer has compiled a list of 12 water based sites, here’s the half of it.  Like what you see?  Drop by over their site to view the rest.

Not all is lost however, we’ve spotted a few shining examples of restaurant/F&B websites that whet our appetites (sorry, poor pun, just couldn’t resist it).

Pomodoro’s Pizza

Pomodoro’s is a breeze to navigate.  Content sections are clearly defined and its menus and prices are easily understood.  Extra stars for providing Google maps to their restaurant locations.

Perkins

Extra-large imagery on the homepage is a sure winner.  The website is a complete source of information for anything related to the chain, from menus to gift cards to even franchising.  While the amount of information may be a little heavy for the casual diner, the site gets points for its consistent message of wholesome foods.

Orca Bay Seafoods

Not a restaurant website, but thought we would feature it since it was also dealing with food and was an example of Flash used subtly and with good taste.  Its textured-scrapbooked design makes the site look modern and inviting.  The site also has great imagery peppered all around.

Neuro Aurich

This is a personal favourite!  You don’t need to understand German to know that these guys can whip up a meal.  The table setting design is very appropriate for the theme and gives the visitor a good preview of what to expect at their restaurant.  The content is light but updated (they have monthly specials on their menu), and the overall design is very appealing.

Aqua

Aqua’s website has a very 2.0 feel to it.  The homepage is parted into sections with each section providing a glimpse of the content within.  While the site offers quite alot of information, the use of design and colors makes finding the right bit easy.  Having the contact information and opening hours displayed prominently at the footer of every page deserves special mention.

Trinity

Sometimes it’s more about the atmosphere, and Trinity’s website has done a good job at recreating that atmosphere online for its visitors.  The website is consistent with the pub’s decor and image (see the gallery).  The use of original and eye-catching graphics on the its scrolling navigation bar at the bottom is a great way to encourage click-throughs to the parts of the site.

Squid Ink

The Squid Ink is as artistic as restaurant websites come.  It makes good use of textures, colors and typography to achieve a “Grunge-Lite” effect.  While you may have to squint at some text due to the semi-transparent background, the overall experience of using the website is still pleasing.  It’s also interesting to see a Recipes section where you can learn to recreate some of their dishes. Great example of flaunting what you’ve got while giving value to visitors!

Twelve

Twelve’s website is like their cooking: bold and innovative.  It makes use of full-screen images as its backgrounds and has very minimal content throughout the pages.  That, together with the primary colors used on the site, red and gray, conveys sophistication and cool without the need to be too loud.

FIG

The main feature on the site is the image-scroller, that upons browsing, will give you a good idea of the eatery and it’s offerings.  Navigation is very clear and to the point.  The main reason why we like FIG’s website,  is that it’s clean, simple and comfortable. Makes you want to hang out there after work, doesn’t it?

How To Cook A Wolf

A witty(albeit eccentric?) name for a restaurant helps lots in getting people to remember it, and I think its the same thing with horizontally-navigated websites.  It’s fun to click along the 3 buttons and have the site slide to the corresponding section. Over and over again.  All that fun aside, it has some great photography in the gallery section.  This will probably be a website you will remember for awhile.

So there, proof that not all restaurant websites have to be crappy!  If you’re the owner with a great restaurant and not-so-great website, email us at enquiry@antidote.com.sg We have the 3-Michelin-stars equivalant in web design!

Here’s the situation: your boss stormed into the office this morning and called you to his office.  He then gives you 20 minutes to identify any problems with your company’s website and propose solutions. He says that he’s been paying the web designer an ungodly sum every month since 1998 and it’s about time it delivered some returns.  And yes, it falls upon you because you are the marketing manager.  You spend 5 minutes recovering from that ringing sound in your ear and make a note to get that long overdue analytics package, then proceed to:

Check Contact Forms, RSS Feeds, Shopping Cart

These are usually tied to the KPIs of most websites.  They allow users to perform desired actions like subscribing for your email newsletter or even make a purchase from your website.  The Javascript and PHP files supporting these functions rarely break down but it’s a good practice to check them from time to time.

Check Last Update

Here’s a webmaster secret. Website performance is tied very closely to the frequency of your updates.  If your website has not been updated for a while, chances are that you will experience low traffic.  Static sites without updates give little incentive for visitors to return to your site again, effectively “killing” it.  Usually in the case of a long-dormant site (more than 1 year), it is a good idea to redesign the site and relaunch it.

Quality Content

Just as important is the quality of your updates. Frequent postings of poor quality content is.. just not a good idea.  It may be tough to determine the quality of your content yourself, especially if you’ve had a hand in crafting it.  If you have an analytics package you can be able to tell by the number of repeat visitors and the average time spent on site.

Missing Images and Broken Links

Don’t wreck the user experience by having missing images or broken links on your site.  This usually happens when you change your site directories or after a revamp of the site.  These may also be due to deleted or misnamed files.

Browser Compatibility

Most users in Singapore are still on Internet Explorer, followed closely by Mozilla Firefox.  Test your website out in these 2 browsers (at least) to see if your content is displayed correctly and that all your forms and important functions work.

Check for Extra/Redundant Steps

A furniture site I recently visited took 6 clicks for me to get to the tables page, when I felt 3 would have sufficed.  Make it easy for your users to find the information they need in the shortest time possible.  Another common problem is that of the Flash Introduction ordeal that users are forced to go through every time they visit a site.

XHTML Navigation Menu & Sitemap

On the note of making it easy for your users, your navigation menu is crucial to a good user experience.  Decide if you have too little categories or if they are nested too deep.  It is good SEO to create a non-image, non-Flash navigation menu since images and Flash content are harder to index for search engines.  Also creating a sitemap both helps to give your users an overall view of the content on your website as well as any spiders visiting your site.

Take the remaining 5 minutes to compile your findings, grab a quick cooler break, then present them to your boss.  No problemo, amigo.

In Singapore, the words “good returns” , “marketing tool” and “corporate website” are seldom used together in the same sentence. Tell a business owner that a website is an investment, and he’ll be quick to retort that something only qualifies as an investment when it has a potential to generate returns. Most of the time, this cynical skeptical view holds true. Well, the first step to solving a problem is recognizing one. This week, we identify some of the main problems plaguing corporate websites in Singapore.

Poor Homepage Design

The homepage is usually the single most important page on your website. Inbound links from external sites, marketing material (i.e your business cards) usually link to this page.  For many businesses who market themselves on the Internet, the homepage creates the first impression of their business to new visitors.  If you are unable to capture a new visitor’s attention with your homepage it is unlikely that they will navigate to the other pages in your website.

Flash Intro

Do you want your customers to visit your site again and again? Of course you do! Repeat visitors contribute to more than 70% of online sales. Start building relationships with your visitors by not tormenting them with a Flash introduction.

Inconsistent Maintenance

Frequent maintenance and updates is seen by visitors as a sign of commitment and continuity.  If your last update was in 1996, visitors may not know if you are still in business.  Instead of calling to find out, they may just skip over to a competitor’s website.

Information Overload

Some website have too many things on site. Mostly it’s multimedia, too many glittering ads, animated banners, videos all vying for the visitor’s attention at the same time. Oh, and while we’re talking about multimedia, remember to do away with any cheesy music on your website.

No Clear Message

I’ve seen a site where an accountant offers her professional services, introduces health supplements and offers to walk your dog.  Don’t confuse your visitors!  Your website should have a core message that is instantly understood by visitors within seconds.

Not Informative

On the other hand, there are sites that have too little content to be helpful to a potential customer.  A common mistake is to list products by their model numbers with an accompanying image and no description.  Unless you’re selling to your peers in the same industry, visitors have no idea what the TYH-928273X Deluxe Model is capable of.

Too Technical

On the same note, make sure the copy on your website is not full of jargon or too technical, or you will be turning away visitors who do not have much understanding about such terms.

No Call to Action

This is the online equivalent of going to a sales meeting, describing your services for an hour and then leaving without attempting to follow up or close a sale.  A whole study has been devoted create landing pages that entice visitors to perform desired actions, be it picking up the phone and calling you, registering for your newsletter or making a purchase with your website’s online cart.

No Contact Information

I’ve been to sites that have no phone numbers or emails listed. You can only get in touch with the site owners through a one-way contact form. These sites create the impression that they are fly-by-night businesses.

No Human Voice

People like to work and interact with other people, not faceless corporations.  Add in a human tone in your articles and content.  It’s the age of social networking, so stop worrying that doing so “is too informal”.

Loading Time

Internet speeds today are very, very fast making all of us very, very impatient.  Optimize your image and other multimedia sizes.

Cheesy Music

Oh, did I mention No Cheesy Music?

Content Formatting and General Website Design

Poor background and font contrast, too many font colors, use of pop-ups, use of frames etc.  Here we are more concerned about the user experience when they browse a particular website.

Poor Navigation

Make it easy for your visitors to find the information they need.  It is frustrating to search for a page that you were just surfing minutes ago but just can’t seem to find again.  This happens often when you have a large website with lots of content.  Have your friends, colleagues perform a usability test and see how well your navigation system holds up. Add a search bar if needed.

Broken Links and Graphics

Internet Explorer browsers point some of these out with a box and a red “X” in it, this affects the user experience on your website very negatively.

Poor Browser compatibility

With so many browsers it takes more time optimizing your website for compatibility.  Start with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari, since these are the most popular browsers.

Too Much Advertising

Too many contextual ads in the content leads to a poor user experience.  Having Adsense on your corporate site may project a negative impression on any potential clients.

So, there.  If your website is not performing the way you planned, look through the list and see if these are any contributing factors.  For an in-depth analysis and report on the performance of your website, you may also want to consider our web analytics solutions Your website is a potential goldmine, make it churn out some returns!

Can you think of a local site with shopping cart facilities from which you have purchased something from, within the last 6 months?  I can only recall buying air & movie tickets, and I wouldn’t categorize these as shopping items.  I’m sure you’ve come across a site that deals in hardware or sticky tapes or other industrial stuff.  Ever wondered who places orders?

One thing isn’t going to change.  And that is Singapore is a small island.  Most of the time its faster to buy an item from a store than to have to wait for it to be shipped to you.  You also get to inspect it, look it around all angles and decide that it’s heavy enough to be worthy of your consideration.

The point is, if you deal with products and want to set up an ecommerce platform to automate sales through the Internet, it might not be all smooth sailing.  Very often, new sites do not have the traffic or enough repeat visitors to generate sufficient sales.  Also, like what was just mentioned, we generally do not have the habit of buying online.  We’ll do all the research online and spend hours looking at your site (and your competitors) and compare reviews.  When we’ve finally decided, we’ll go to your site, look past for the “contact us” link, find your number and ask if it is in stock and what time your store closes. Huh? What shopping cart.

Don’t feel dismayed if you are not receiving orders through your online shopping site, however start thinking of how to reach out to more potential buyers and how you can convince them to make that phone call.  In other words, direct your efforts at marketing instead of pushing for sales online.  It’ll pay off big time in Singapore

(If you know of a successful e-store based in Singapore, do share it with us in a comment, it will make a good case study)

Although Internet Explorer is still the most widely used browser with over 60% of users, Firefox users have tremendously grown from 9 to 15% over the last year.    With more users adopting the iPhone, you’ll also want to minimize the use of Flash since it’s not being supported by the Safari mobile browser.  What happens is that visitors see a blank image in place, and we dont want to leave a bad user experience do we?