Top 5 Tips for a Successful Web Site
- Nina Menezes
Whether your Web site is a small mom and pop store or a large corporation, good marketing strategies are an absolute must if you want to reach your target audience. When creating your Web site, you need to remember that your Web site has to compete with millions of Web sites that are on the Internet today. The best Web sites on the Net are those that are easily understood and easy to navigate.
Internet surfers have become quite used to seeing things in a particular way. Ensure that your Web site navigation is easy to recognize and familiar to use. Here are some tips to help you design your Web pages with your visitors' needs in mind.
1. Design
Use a consistent design for all pages on your site. The colours should be pleasing and the same colour scheme should be used throughout the site. Don't use a dark coloured font against a dark background as it will be difficult to read, and you want them to read what's on your site don't you? Use lots of white space. Do not use more than 3 fonts.
2. Usability
Menus/navigation bars should be in the same place on every pages. Remember the 3 click rule. Visitors should never be more than 3 clicks away from the information they're looking for.
3. Content
People are in a hurry. They rarely read, they scan pages. Use attractive, easy to read fonts and simple language. Use short paragraphs, headers and bullets. When writing content, keep your tone friendly and conversational and your sentences short. People go to the internet to get information. If you can provide useful information on your site that is updated regularly, your visitors will keep coming back to your site!
4. Faster Loading Pages
Have you ever gone to a site and waited and waited and waited for the page to load? Make your Web pages load faster by minimizing the number of graphics you use as well as by optimizing images. You will need a graphic program like Photoshop to optimize images.
5. Search Engine Optimization
In order to have your web pages rank highly on search engines, you must first decide what keywords or phrases visitors will find your site with. Once you have decided on these keywords or phrases, write the content for your site using these keywords or phrases.