Simply put good web design drives up traffic and extends the range of visitors you can reach.

The benefits of good web site design are best epitomised by considering the value of accessibility to and usability by your potential visitors

If your web site has achieved high levels of both accessibility and usability it can bring greater reach, provide a more satisfactory experience and lead to a better return on your Internet investment.

It relies on considering the following areas:

• Discovery
  • A well designed web site that conforms to good practice in terms of its technical design is much more likely to be found and indexed by the search engines and, consequently, by potential visitors. Unfortunately many sites fail in many ways to comply with these requirements
• Access
  • A site that takes into consideration the many ways in which a visitor may try to access the site increases greatly the chances of getting and retaining that visitor. Browser compatibility is just one issues as you should now consider the viability of publishing for WAP, Digital TV and other media.
• Usability
  • If a site is easy to use and easy to navigate then your visitor will be comfortable and more likely to find the information they want which will, potentially lead to a sale.
• Site maintenance
  • Is much easier if the site is correctly designed. Design approaches and best practice actively help to reduce the time (and therefore cost) of maintaining your site - this is doubly true where Content Management is used to help in maintenance.