10 tips for improving your Web site
First impressions count, to keeping visitors at your web site
1) First impressions count
What is the first thing a visitor sees when they arrive at your Web site? Does the design of the Web site reflect the character of your organization? Does it look professional? Will it give the visitor a feeling of confidence? That they are dealing with serious people who respect their needs and concerns? How you frame the content on your Web site deserves the same attention as how you create your retail space, develop your products or perform your services. Make the visitor feel comfortable, as they would stepping into any professional establishment.
2) Clearly state your call to action
So many businesses create a Web site because they think they should have one, but there is no thought given as to why the content is there. Most Web sites fall into one or more of these categories: to sell a product online immediately, to provide pre-sales information that brings the visitor closer to a buying decision, to provide support for existing customers, and, especially in the case of nonprofits, to disseminate research and background information. Each of these points has a call to action – buy something now, contact us now to get more information about buying something, get resolution on a problem right away, or get more information about your topic of concern. Make it easy from any point in the Web site for the visitor to take that next step when they are ready.
3) Don’t count on search engines
Unless your business is the only one in its market (which is unlikely), you are going to have a staggering amount of competition for placement in search engines. Since so many factors affect good placement, it is usually either luck or very diligent (and expensive) effort that results in a high listing.
4) Don’t count out search engines
While you shouldn’t bet the farm on search engine placement to drive traffic to your site, at the same time don’t make it harder for a search engine to place your site. Modern search engines, such as Google, crawl your site and record page titles, page text and META tag information. It will start at your home page and follow the links to all the pages in your site. Here are some guidelines:
Use standard links and buttons for site navigation. Crawlers don’t understand Flash and java navigation consoles.
Write text that describes your business. Include those key words and phrases that a visitor would use to find your business.
Use description titles for your pages that include some of these key phrases
Create META tags for your site. META tags sit “behind the scenes” and tell search engines more about the content of your page. They aren’t as important as they used to be, since search engines place more weight on the actual page content. But having them in place is better than not, and every bit helps.
Don’t repeat phrases excessively. Placing “Cape Cod Beachfront Hotel” 10 times on a page will not increase your chances. In fact, just the opposite. You can be penalized for “stacking the deck.”
Text created with an image-editing program such as Photoshop doesn’t count as text. To a search engine, this is just a picture. Place important phrases in HTML text. Use HTML headings where possible.
5) Make it easy
Getting around a Web site should not be a challenge. Navigation should be very clearly laid out and placed in the same area of each page. Keep it simple. Most visitors want a few basic things: images of products, business location, services, support information and price.
6) Highlight advantages unique to your business
Be sure to include in your description any features that are unique to your business. Try to be objective, as something that may seem commonplace to you may be just the thing that distinguishes you in the visitor’s mind.
7) Make it easy for people to contact you
Display an e-mail address and phone number prominently on every page. If it normally takes you two to three days to get back to someone, let them know up front. You can also set up an auto-responder with your e-mail program or even with your ISP that can acknowledge receipt of an e-mail.
8) Get listed on other sites
The best way to drive traffic to your site is by being listed on a high-traffic site. The more people seeing your listing, the better the chance that users will follow that link to your site. The other added benefit is that some search engines, such as Google, give your site better placement based on popularity. One key determinant of popularity is linkage from high-traffic sites. Check to see if your business has a trade association and get listed there.
9) Keep your site up-to-date
Nothing turns people off faster than obviously outdated information. Make sure your rates and any other time-sensitive information are always current. Don’t show availability of product unless you are prepared to keep it current, or use a service that does this for you. If you have information about business events, check that, too. And if you have links on your site to other Web sites, check those periodically as well. The site may no longer be functioning, the address may have changed or the information may no longer be relevant (they may even have links to your competition!).
10) Keep people on your site
Once someone leaves your site, there is a chance they may not come back. Therefore, choose carefully what links actually leave your site. Be sure that each link adds value to your business. Have links to external sites open in a new window, preferably smaller than yours, so all the user has to do to get back to your site is close the window. And if they get distracted and surf for a while in the new window, when they close it – yours will be there!
Source: Courtesy MMI Inc.
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