This week’s Example Site Wednesday comes from a beautiful website dedicated to selling adorable duct tape bows to raise money for a cancer charity foundation, Bows for Hope. This website provides an excellent example of how a simplistic homepage can help you capitalize on your unique web traffic.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.”
-Albert Einstein
Bows For Hope is an organization started by Lauren Chelenza, a 13 year old, who was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in 2009. She sells bows made of duct tape that come in many creative designs for $1.50, and all proceeds are donated to the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation. Lauren first started out selling her bows in school, and to date she has raised thousands of dollars for her cause.
Within seconds of visiting Bows For Hope, you are greeted with an warm angelic design that directs you to the main content of the site. The content is straight forward and allows visitors to comprehend the objective of the site instantly. Right below the main paragraph is a ‘Call to Action’ message that is a personal statement directly from the founder of the site. The navigational links are placed on the left side of the site, and the links are precise and easy to read.
Whether you have an e-commerce or personal site, it is very important to improve the visitor experience of your site. Here are some reasons why a SIMPLER site will improve website usability:
- Accessibility: Think about the visitors who come to your site who may be using a special tool or program to view your site. There will be users who may have trouble seeing, or maybe blind and they utilize a tool to read aloud your site. A simple design will make it easier for your site to be accessible by anyone.
- Speed: Having fewer things to load makes your site much faster, and we all know how important page loading is in the overall user experience.
- Improved Navigation: Make sure that your menu is easily accessible and well organized; users should be able to effectively find exactly which page they are looking for without opening unnecessary links. Try to place navigational links either as the top header or on the left side of your site, those are the first places where users look. Make sure the links are in order by most popular to least popular, and that they are easy to understand.
- Clear Message: Users come to your websites for a purpose, and if they cannot meet their objective in a reasonable amount of time they will leave. Your homepage needs to have a direct message that tells your users they will meet their objectives on your site. It may be beneficial to ask a question about your website or company and answer it with a clear short paragraph. If a user has to analyze a confusing homepage to find out the clear message, more than likely they will be gone within the first 10 seconds of coming to your site.
- Mobile Access: A simpler design means that Smartphones will be able to access your full site features.
Lauren has been given a second chance at life and takes great pride in knowing that she has generated thousands of dollars for the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation, an organization that is near and dear to her heart. We invite you to view her website and check out her beautiful bows and learn more about her story.
Until Next Wednesday,
HAPPY SITE BUILDING !


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