| |
12 Tips To Great Websites
By Richard Hill
© 2005 Richard F. Hill - All Rights reserved
Why do some sites succeed while the vast majority of
others fail? More and more website owners are asking
themselves these questions. The answers are often more
obvious than you may think. Below are 12 tips for better,
more successful web sites.
1. Location, Location, Location
The old real estate saying applies to websites as well, but
Internet location is really the website name. You must have
a name that is easily remembered and that reinforces your
business.
If you can use your actual business name, that's great. But
if not, then choose one that will bring surfers to your site -
your product. BestWidgets.com says it all, but
JonesBrothers.biz doesn't help at all for a small business.
2. Focus
What are you selling? Concentrate on that one thing (or
group of things). Unrelated products can confuse and
irritate your viewer. If you offer many products, dedicate a
page for each one. Up-selling great, but don't dedicate so
much to it that the customer feels caught in a bait and
switch.
Make mention of other products but do so subtly.
Remember, too, that domain names are cheap to get and to
host, so consider having a different website for each
product or service grouping.
3. Load Fast
You only have between 10 and 30 seconds to capture your
potential customer's attention. Make your site load fast,
minimizing graphics to those really needed, keeping the
actual page size rather small. Stay away from glitzy
animations and sounds. That fancy flash movie may be
really cool, but not so after you have seen it a dozen times!
You can make your secondary pages a bit longer once you
have the prospect on your site. Don't forget to test your
pages at different connection speeds. Your cable modem
may blaze, but what happens on a 56k modem on dialup?
You may be surprised. Also make sure that all your cool
stuff works on all current browsers. FrontPage and
DreamWeaver both let you test this, and if you are serious
about your business site, you need one of them, or a good
web designer.
4. Target Your Audience
Who are you selling to? It is critical that your site reflect
the desires of your potential customers. Are you trying to
sell to teenagers between 14 and 17? If so, the site must
be designed for what they expect to see. Is your product
aimed mostly at home-based businesses? Then you can
afford to emphasize different products or services on
different pages. The key here is to know your market and
build the site to their preferences. Don't try to be all things
to all people.
5. Credibility Is Crucial
Your contact info should include an email address, mailing
address, phone number and a fax number, if applicable.
Remember, too, that a PO Box is an acceptable address if
you are working from home. If you are unwilling to provide
this information to your customers, how can they trust (or
buy from) you?
6. Privacy
A clear privacy statement is "must have". Every commercial
web site should have a privacy statement posted on line.
Do not think that because you are small, you don't need to
do this, and all the other items. It matters. Provide an
easy-to-see link to your privacy statement from every page
on the site as well as from any location that you are asking
your visitors for personal information.
7. Guarantee Everything
Offer an ironclad, no exceptions, money back guarantee.
This also establishes credibility but it is important enough to
stand alone. If the customer sees that your are willing to
assume all of the risk, they will immediately be more inclined
to trust you. If you are providing a downloadable product
and someone asks for a refund, don't get hung up on their
still having the product. Just ask them to delete it and then
you forget about it. The last thing you want to do is to get
into an argument with a customer.
8. Payment
If you don't currently take credit cards, start doing so
immediately. You can either set up a merchant account or
use a service like PayPal or ClickBank. Take checks on line
through PayPal. Provide an address for those who prefer
to pay by check or money order, but make it clear that you
do not accept cash. Say that you do, and someone is sure
to claim they sent you money and got no product.
Make sure the payment method is easy to access and use.
Do not ask for any more information than is necessary to
complete the transaction. If you don't need the info, don't
ask for it. Remember, too, that if you are keeping customer
credit card info online, you had better have a very good
firewall and anti-spam software. There is a major liability
potential here. That is why outside services like PayPal are
so popular. The keep the card info and you never see even
it.
9. Easy Site Navigation
Make site navigation easy and intuitive. While it may be
artistic to make your index page all black and hide the link
to continue, will that generate business? If your customer
can not navigate your site to find what they want, they will
go elsewhere. Limit the choices and direct your customers
through a sales process.
10. Design Consistency
Make sure the site is consistent through out your site. New
pages should look consistent with old pages. If you want
to change the design of a new page, consider a total site
redesign. Nothing is more disturbing to a customer than
feeling as if they have just gone to another site. Keep
colors and themes constant throughout the site.
11. Content is King
Does your website get the message across to your visitors?
Is it compelling? Is the site user-friendly? Does it lead your
visitor through the sales process? Have a few friends or
colleagues review, critique and edit your copy to insure it is
delivering the intended message. But first, make sure they
are good spellers! Always double check your spelling and
grammar.
12. Be Search Engine Friendly
About 85% of all web users find what they are looking for
via the top search engines. Your web pages must be easy
for the search engine spiders to find and navigate. Focus
on your keywords and keyword density within your page,
but don't try to write just for the search engines. Utilize the
meta tags keywords, description and title. Use your
keywords when naming your pages and within the body of
the page.
Implementing the twelve steps above probably will not
change your site into a LandsEnd.com overnight. You
should see a marked improvement in the site's traffic and
sales when you implement these suggestions. It may take
a few weeks to a few months, but you will see success.
And success breeds success.
About the Author
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard Hill is the author of the popular, and free, eBook
"Autoresponder Cash Flow NOW!" which is available at
http://www.us-email-service.com/arcfn.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/8514.html
| If you wish to add the above article to your website or newsletters then please include the "Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/8514.html" as shown above and make it hyperlinked. |
| Some other articles by Richard Hill | Finding A Web Designer
Website Design Info - Part 4
Finding A Web Designer
by Richard F. Hill
© 2005 Richard F. Hill - All Rights reserved
...
Website Design Info - Part 2
What kind of 'dot' do I need?
by Richard F. Hill
? 2005 Richard F. Hill - All Rights reserved
This is the second of eight articles about ...
Website Design Info - Part 1
What Will My Site Do?
by Richard F. Hill
Copyright 2005 - Richard F. Hill - All Rights reserved
This ...
|
|
| |
|
