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Internet Tip of the Week: First Impressions
First impressions are extremely important if you hope to do business on the Web. After you refine your ads, and if you make your pitch to a targeted group, you will start to get visitors to your web site. Here is where many would be entrepreneurs drop the ball.
Putting up a web site is not a difficult task, but designing a good one is, and if you don't pay attention, it might be working against you. Think about it, the web site is not only the first impression of you and your business, it is crucial to your success or failure.
People don't waste a whole lot of time when visiting a site. If it isn't professional looking, they may just "click away". While looks are important, you must spend time on developing good copy. Copy written by affiliate programs has been seen over and over, and while it may have been effective at one time, it is so overused that people immediately recognize it for what it is.
In addition to good copy, which of course has no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors, it has to clearly state what you are offering. Many web sites offer a real challenge to try to figure out what they are trying to sell. The offer should be the first thing they see. The information must also flow logically, and not leave a lot of questions unanswered.
In addition to complete information on your offer, it must have a call to action, which entices the visitor to purchase from you. It must also have an order form, or instructions that are easy to follow. It is also a real plus to let the prospect know a little bit about you. Your picture on the site can go a long way to help instill confidence.
There is some confusion on the value of links. Some advocate that a good web site should be divided into separate sections connected by links. Others feel that a single long web page will score higher in the search engine rankings.
There are basically two types of links. One goes to a completely separate web page, and is considered an external link. Another type is referred to as an internal link. These point to different "parts" within the same web page. Both have value, however internal links are a little friendlier. If someone clicks on one and the next "part" logically flows from the previous one, people will be more inclined to read on.
While it is a good idea to have your links on the side of the page, you should avoid the use of frames, which divides the page into two logical pieces that can be independently manipulated. At the current time, sites constructed with frames are not search engine friendly, although this could change.
Links should be clear as to where they will take you. It is crucial that the titles of the links, not only make sense, but actually take someone to that information. Each site should have links that are unique, and it is not a good idea to have information in the target, that is not specified in the link.
If you have someone design the site for you, remember that their expertise is in web site design, and most likely they will know little, if anything, about what you are doing. They can construct the site and make it look good, but the copy and information flow is your responsibility. You should always take a break from the copy writing, and if at all possible, have someone else proof your work for grammar. Also you have to be careful of words that pass spell check, but are actually an error. Don't confuse words like "there" and "their".
Once you have the basic framework finished, it is now time to test it. Try to corral as many people as possible to review it. Is it clear and an effective presentation? You should probably avoid friends unless you are sure they will give you an honest evaluation.
The first impression your web site makes is crucial to success. If people have to "jump through hoops" to find out about your offer, or if it doesn't portray a professional image, the odds are they won't buy.
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Congratulations! You?ve Gotten Visitors To Your Site! Now, Can They Find What Theyre Looking For?
As search engine marketers, we spend an enormous amount of time trying to get targeted traffic to our site. But, once those visitors get to our site, can they find what they're looking for? If not, guess what? We've lost a customer.
Ten Steps to a Winning Home Page
There's no doubt about it - the first page your site visitors see is the most important page of your website. If your home page isn't appealing, chances are the rest of your pages will never even be seen by your visitors. It helps to think of your home page as the "front door" to your online business. Will it invite people to come in and look around, or persuade them to take their dollars elsewhere? Here are ten tips for making your home page a winner:
Building Web Sites Using Web Templates
Gone are the days when you had to rely on a web-designer to design your websites. New technologies with innovative ideas have brought out a new variant to this trend in the form of ready to use website templates.
Designing Your Websites Directory Structure
Any kid, and their grandmother too, can make a webpage. There are many "wysiwyg" webpage design applications that let you create a webpage as easy as typing text. But only a few people can create a WEBSITE. The stumbling block is knowing how to link webpages together to form a website. I have seen many websites that consist of a single webpage - about a mile long!
Making Good Websites that Stand Out
Websites, there's literally billions of them out there in cyber-space. How many of them do you go to and just think this is boring, bland, or hard to use? It seems like too many to mention. So what makes a good website? I reckon it's about interaction. You've got to make the visitor interested. You've got to grab their attention. Many sites use plenty of bright and shiny gimmicks to attract you, but once you make it through to the content of the site it's just not worthy. A good site uses easy navigation, relevant content, and interactive media like comments and message boards. If you're fortunate, whoever builds your site may even have a few tricks up their sleeves to make it really fun with sound, video, and other interactive fun stuff.
Web Site Professionalism? What Is It?
Your web site should be-
Creating a Basic Web Design Template
A "template" is simply a design format which you can apply to all (or most) of the pages in your web site. The first advantage of using a "template" system is that it allows you to make your most important design decisions at the beginning, and then just focus on content. The second advantage is that it allows you to quickly create new pages based on your standard design.
How Not to be Ripped Off by Your Website Designer
As web designer my self, I have had the unfortunate luck of speaking to too many of my clients who have been ripped off by a web designer somewhere along the line. Whether it be that the designer never really finished the website, took the deposit and was never heard from again, or finished the website with less than promised quality.
Affordable Website Design In Manchester
If you have a business, big or small you may be thinking of getting yourself a website.
Tips for a Successful Website for Any Organization, NGO or GO
Most NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) don't understand these important aspects of a successful website. Even many governmental organizations (GOs) could improve their sites by following these tips.
Are You Driving Away Potential Customers?
When a prospect lands on your website will he or she understand what you are presenting? Do your ordering/sign up instructions make sense? Can prospects easily find the information they are searching for? If you don't know the answers to these questions you may be driving away potential customers.
3 Simple Ways To Dramatically Improve Your Website
Before you start worrying about marketing your website on the internet it always pays dividends to look at the website itself and get the fundamentals right before looking to shout about it from the virtual mountain-tops.
Give Your Web Wite Visitors What They Really Want - Information!
Surfing the internet is basically an information-fest! From intellectual discussions to the bizarre...people surf the internet for information more than products or services. Through sites that offer information -sales are generated indirectly which is perfect. By offering valuable information to your visitors, you start a marketing relationship just by creating value in your website.
Other Ways to Look at Things
Many people today are tired of the Microsoft software that came pre-packaged with their operating system. Some have switched over to Apple's Macintosh line, but for the most part we just put up with what we have. Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) has come under a lot of fire as of late for several reasons. Hackers find IE easy to exploit.
Why Should You Care About Your Web Site Colors?
**How Colors are Used in web design:**
Hacked Off with CSS?
For those not familiar with CSS Hacks, they are ways of using styles/classes that only apply to particular browsers. They are used to overcome the display problems mentioned previously by exploiting CSS structure and code. Most involve simple punctuation tricks to fool the problematic browser into accepting a different style to the browsers that display correctly.
User Experience and Search Engines: If Your Home Page Could Only Talk
Dear web site visitor.
Choosing A Web Designer : A Plan to Guide You Through The Minefield
Choosing a web designer can seem like a daunting task. They come in all shapes and sizes ? from freelancers working at home to glossy new media agencies, and there is as much variation in prices and service as there is in size.
Is Your Web Site Turning Visitors Away?
One of the biggest problems with Web sites is that the very first page on the site is turning people away.
Web Templates: Replacing Designers?
I've seen articles (and websites) that suggest you can buy a website template and skip the expense of hiring a professional website designer. Recently, I read several testimonials from the very satisfied customers of a website template vendor that mentioned how quickly they were able to get their sites done. The template vendor commented that he/she had known people to complete their websites in around two hours.