From time to time, members from the VistaPrint staff will contribute articles to the VistaPrint Small Business Blog. Today we have a post from Kirk Doggett, the User Experience Principal at VistaPrint.

In today’s marketplace it is rare to find a business that does not have some type of Web presence. A website, even a small one, is as essential to your business as a business card

Kirk Doggett

or email address to even the smallest of businesses. It allows you to be found by potential customers (Click here for some tips on increasing Website visibility) online and also allows you to showcase your wares. While it may seem simple to just throw everything out there and wait for the business to roll in, however there is a rhyme and reason to creating a great site.

Take a look at Amazon, Google or our site and take a look at the look, feel and flow of the sites. Notice that everything flows and provides an ease of use for the customer or user, depending on the purpose of the site. When designing your site it is also a good idea to check out leaders in your space to see how their site is laid out and to borrow some of the things that you think would work for you. There are also some research-based website design guidelines available from the government at www.usability.gov to help guide your process.

Large companies do extensive research and usability studies to constantly improve their sites. While it may seem like these kinds of tests are out of the budgetary means for your company, they can actually be attained at a low cost or even free.

Where large companies survey groups of users to attain honest feedback on the site, you can get a sampling on the usability of your site by asking friends, family and employees what they think of your site in terms of ease of use, functionality and improvements before launching live to the public. It really helps to actually watch them use the site to accomplish a specific task. Since these people are close to you and want you to succeed, they are likely to give you their opinions without charging you. If you want to get a broader view, you can also place a free ad on a site like Craig’s List for site testers and a nominal fee, discounted service from your business or a gift card to participate.

It’s also important to not take any feedback personally. These comments can only help you improve your site. Websites are constantly evolving and can always improve.