Using Tables as a Strategic Sales Tool

By Candice Pardue
Posted Friday, June 25, 2004

Why Tables?

Tables have helped me to do the following while designing my website:

1. Establish organization.

2. Create sections on my web pages that are neat and uniform.

3. Build a unique sales presentation with direction.

With tables, I've been able to build an effective site that gets
results,
and you can too!

Below are a couple of table tips to help you design a
customer oriented site for web success:

Table Tip One - The Two-Column Web Page

What I mean by "two-column" is to divide your table into
two columns - one for your text writing, and one for your navigation
bar.

Which side your navigation bar will be on is up to you, but it is
recommended that your side navigation bar be located on the left for
the best results. The reason for this is that a person's eyes are
generally drawn to the right of a page (even when online). So,
you can see why it would be wise to have your "headline" and
sales presentation to the right.

However, if you're operating a site that's very similar to a mail
order catalog with many products, you'll want to place your side
navigation bar on the right. Have you ever noticed that most
mail order catalogs have their listing indexes on the right hand side
of the pages? And, since your site will attract the same type of
customers, you'll want to keep your web page looking close to
what they're accustomed to seeing in the catalogs.

Table Tip Two - The 600 Pixels Rule

What's the 600 pixels rule? It's very simple. I discovered quickly
that my web pages did not appear the same on every computer
system available. And, because I have no control over which
system my "potential" customers will use to view my site, I
changed my table sizing to be "system" friendly. By making the
overall "width" of your table 600 pixels, you'll have a much better
chance of your website looking decent on various computer systems.

Some people online use big screens, some small and some have
special set-ups where space is limited for online viewing.

A safe table width size for your web pages is 600 pixels. This
size will help prevent your site from looking distorted on systems
that are different than your own. I haven't had any complaints
since I changed my table sizes to 600 pixels. But, before the resizing,

I had several people to email me with complaints about my site's design.

These two tips alone have helped my website tremendously! I've tried
other techniques of design, but found that these methods get positive
results. Give them a try!

About the Author
Candice Pardue, editor of Web Design Weekly.
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