When building a website in Joomla or from scratch there is a delicate balance, between being unique and grabbing, and then becoming so creative that you need training on how to navigate the site. Giving a manual out to everyone that wants to browse your website is not extremely viable... obviously.

The key is to have the buttons etc in the normal places. You want a menu along the top of the website which links to all the main areas of your websites – this is where people expect this to be. The contact us button should be at the right of this menu and easy to spot – this is where people expect this to be. If you have a site map, put it down the bottom of the page near the copyright – this is where you expect it to be. It is great to be creative, but keep within the boundaries of what people are used to using. Check out other Brisbane web sites and create a list of what works and what does not.

Secondly, Flash should not be a critical part of your website. Why?

• What happens when a visitor does not have flash installed? Answer: They cannot find out what you do and how to contact you.
• Flash is not supported by iPhone
• Flash is hard to update content

Thirdly, use Flash on your website. Why?

• Flash brings movement to your website in the form of videos, slideshows and effective advertisements.
• Just make sure that the site will still be completely usable and dynamic if the flash were not to display.

Finally, get to the point and call to action. Too many times have I come across websites that simply go into too much detail. The idea is to wet the visitor’s interest enough to make contact with you. From there it is usually your turn to do the actual selling (especially so in service based businesses).