.: Will Baby Boomers Impact Your Website Design?
By:Illa maden
Category:Home / Internet / Web Design
If you haven't thought of Baby Boomers in regard to website design, you're not on top of things.
The first of the Baby Boomer group are turning 60 and they are retiring. Why should you care? For starters, Baby Boomers are the largest segment of our population. That would be a lot of people to ignore. And their needs and desires are going to differ from those of the, up to now, very young computer users.
The first of the Baby Boomer group came to computers late. Although they might not have warmed to the idea of a computer driven world if left alone, a huge segment of this population has been forced into the computer world by their employers. Having gained some comfort with computers in the workplace, Baby Boomers have become much more likely to make computers a staple item in their homes.
Although I am aware of the dry statistics about Baby Boomers, much of what I am saying about Baby Boomers is from first hand observation.
I live near Palm Springs. The population in this area on a year round basis is an older population than that of most locals across the country. Many retirees have made this their full time home because of the climate. And, every fall and winter our population balloons when many retirees flow to our community in RV's for the season. Plus another large group who maintain winter homes here.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because maybe I know some things you may not have thought about. You see, I know, from first hand observation that these retirees, many of them Baby Boomers, bring lap top computers in those RV's. And many who have Winter homes here, have them equipped with desktop computers. I also know, that these Baby Boomers are not just sending email and jokes. They are surfing!
Baby Boomers are not sitting by the window watching the neighbors go by. These people are busy. They love to shop, they love to travel, they have money. Baby Boomers are going to spend some of their time online shopping and if you want your share of that market, you'd better be ready to meet their wants and needs in planning your website design.
That brings us to what this all has to do with website design. Bifocals! Reading glasses! Many people at or soon after 40 find that reading is not as easy as it used to be. Even many who have always had good vision and never before needed glasses find that reading can be difficult. Anyone designing a website should know that reading online is harder than just reading a book. Whether you do your own website design, or have a professional design your website, keep this in mind. Making your website an easy read is important for all your visitors. It is especially important as Baby Boomers become such a large part of your potential market.
The Baby Boomer phenomenon is just at it's beginning. The Baby Boomer segment of the population will span most of the next twenty years. The last of the Baby Boomer group will be 42 this year.
Consider the size of your fonts when designing your websites. Contrast is another important factor. I see many websites that not only have tiny fonts, but they are often in muted shades even a twenty year old would find a challenge.
Many elements of website design are important, when you consider the needs and the tastes of the group you are marketing to. Audio with no surfer control, flash, colors that are hard on the eyes, small fonts, lack of contrast between font color and background could all be a turn off.
Considering the following five factors could be important to the degree of success you have in your online business over the next few years.
1. Baby Boomers are surfing.
2. Baby Boomers like to spend money.
3. Baby Boomers have money.
4. Baby Boomers will have time in the coming years to surf and shop.
5. Baby Boomers as the years go by will be from the younger segment of this population and will have had more time and experience using computers and the internet.
Will Baby Boomers shop with you? Or, will they find another website that has implemented into their website design what these folks are looking for, and are comfortable with? Baby Boomers will be the largest segment of our population for most of the next twenty years. Make this a consideration when you plan your website design.
Article keywords: baby boomers, website design
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Illa has been marketing on the Internet since 1999. Featured at her website a simple guide for website design and page optimization geared toward new marketers. Advice is offered free of hype in a simple step by step manner.
.: New Web Design Articles
1). HTML Might Become Obsolete
Web designers are beginning to dump HTML in favor of more versatile web programming languages
2). Macromedia Dreamweaver: An Introduction
Getting started with your first web page can seem very daunting indeed. Macromedia Dreamweaver is the industry leader in web editors, but knowing where to start and what you need to know can be a little confusing at first.
3). Finding A Good Web Designer
Avoid the mistakes I made when I hired someone over the internet to design my web site
4). Top Tips for Getting Free Websites
There are millions of opportunities of earning money online, but for that you frequently need to have a web site and there are many people interested in how to build a web site online for free. So whether you want to build a free business web site or to build a Yahoo-like web site, you can be sure there are plenty of online guides, such as this, to take you step by step through the process.
5). Is Your Web Site Driving Away Visitors?
Much has been written about optimizing your web site for search engines, but less emphasis is placed on usability. Optimizing for usability and for search engines is not a contradiction.
6). Choosing a Web Designer
freelance web designers are rip-off artists
7). HTML Sitemaps Are Still Important
An html sitemap is one that humans and search engines both can read. Google sitemaps are important too, but they are specific to google and are read only by a search engine.
.: Top Web Design Articles
1). Advanced Joomla Templating (pt1) Using Module Class Suffix
an article from User Written Resources
1. duplicate the styles already used for the particular module, adding a suffix to each style name. this will definitely include some of the following;
1. .module {} 2. div.moduletable {} 3. div.moduletable h3 {} 4. table.moduletable {}/li> 5. table.moduletable th 6. table.moduletable td
and can include other styles used on the content in that section, such as;
1.
2). How To Make a MySpace Layout That Stand Out
If you are a MySpace user, you have learned what an easy to read and fun profile looks like. The only problem is, you may not know how to create or find out. Most of the time when you see an awful MySpace layout, it's because its sloppy, hard to read, or has annoying links you didn’t even see. That is because since MySpace has been growing so much, so have the layout sites.
3). Professional XOOPS theme design - What to look for
In general, prices for theme design work will range depending on a number of factors. If you don't mind the designer releasing the theme on their site for others to purchase, then you can expect anywhere from $20US to $50US for your theme. If the theme must be a one of a kind theme that only you use, you could expect to multipy the fee by at least 10x.
4). Adsense: The Smart Investment
Over the last 2 years, We have been building a Virtual Adsense Empire of over 500 websites and making some good money. We've also been building content sites for clients using the same system. The system we use is not something that produces 1000's of sites with a click of a button, our system does not build spam websites, nor does it produce the same sites you see over and over and over again.
5). Irish Graphic Design Industry
Graphic design is the use of color, light, balance, contrast, emphasis, proportion, proximity, repetition, texture and a plethora of other elements to create a work of digital art that is pleasing to the eye. Graphic design is about seamlessly molding image and text to convey a theme, message, or often advertise a product or service. Graphic design dates back to prehistoric times.
6). How to Create a Splash Page for Your Website?
These splash designs prove to be quite popular, especially among the designers as they allow the designer to show their skills in flash and any other technology on a single page. The splash page design involved in the splash page will be one that is very attractive to the eye of the viewer. Its main intention lies in captivating the viewer the moment he looks at it.
7). Does Your Web Design Include Background Music?
When you design your website, you may wonder whether or not you should include background music in your web design. The answer to this requires you to ask two additional questions: