Posted in Website Design Tips	March 16, 2006

By Kim Mateus, Managing Editor Mequoda Daily and Library

Terri Edmonston, a Mequoda Library contributing editor, recently did a website design review of Investors.com, the online edition of Investor's Business Daily. Terri pointed out numerous website design tips we can all learn from. First we'll provide a little background on the website, then we'll list three website design tips Terri offers in her review.

Investors.com is the sort of site that the core audience loves with a fierce loyalty. With a focus on the signature stock analysis methodology, deep data diving and just the need-to-know news, the website doesn't have a lot of splashy design and is exceptionally un-exciting for non-investors. Investors.com is a deep site that succeeds well in providing a plethora of ways for getting and displaying data crucial for the avid trader.

Website Design Tip #1: Don't you hate finding out a few pages in to a site that some of the content you thought you could read requires payment? IBD makes it clear from the homepage. Terri appreciates the free trial so that she can browse the content as if she were at a newsstand, before deciding to buy. Terri advises to make the value proposition visually obvious, much like IBD does, with bright red buttons at the top that say—"Subscribe" or "Free Trial."

Website Design Tip #2: Well-functioning relationship tools increase loyalty, and create switching costs for the user so that they are discouraged from leaving you when something better comes along. By creating a My Stock Lists, where the user puts in some effort to list their own stocks to be able to see personalized information at any time, IBD has done exactly that.

Website Design Tip #3: Terri confesses that not being an active trader, she didn't get a lot of the lingo she read in the articles. It seems the editorial content is absolutely written for knowledgeable traders. The reason the site still got an A in Community Building on the Mequoda Website Design Scorecard (after she got over her personal insecurities) is because of the glossary, the definitions and explanations. For example, she clicked on "Daily Stock Analysis" and unobtrusively next to the section head is a link "What is daily Stock Analysis?"... there's her answer. The language used for navigation, site icons and titles of IBD specific tools and features, are consistently explained and defined in a clear and polite manner throughout the site.

Check out Investors.com for a great example of labeling and language to model.

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