How to Make Your Website a Success?

Its no secret your website is a strong ground to conduct business with customers around the world. So, can any website work as a top-notch marketing agent? No. The adage, what you sow is what you reap makes much sense for your website also. Here are a few tips, from the eyes and mind of a visitor, to design your website for success:

1. Visitor: Let me see if this site attracts me to check it out.

Keep it simple: A straight forward website that invites its visitors to discover info lays a robust foundation for business success. Most users of your site have specific needs. Let your site not open the exit doors through complex design. For instance, if your site is all-Flash, do youve a HTML version also?

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2. Visitor: OK, does the content format keep my interest?

Format the content to increase readability: Many research studies have shown that content with much white space around it attracts readers to explore the info. Ensure that page elements text, graphics and other dont run from the edge-to-edge of a page. Break large chunks of text into paragraphs, with headings and sub-headings.

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3. Visitor: Format is good, but are the colors a turn-off?

Choose professional colors: If you use colors that arent on line with your main audience and your business theme, then your site is on a slippery ground. As a rule of thumb, use colors that are easy on the eyes.

TIP: Use a tool like Color Scheme Designer (colorschemedesigner.com) to design a color scheme that gives a professional appeal to your site.

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4. Visitor: Is the site easy to navigate?

Make it easy to browse your Site: Buttons and menus should be consistent in their functions and placements. Navigational aids that do a vanishing act dent your site and business image.

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5. Visitor: Let me see if the content meets my needs

Let your content rule: Clear, concise and relevant content is a key to success of your website.

TIP: Optimize your content for the search engines, so your site gets a top rank in their results. This work, in the jargon, is known as search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is backbone of success of your website.

Checkout Wordtracker.com (wordtracker.com/academy/search-engine-optimization) for more info on SEO.

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6. Visitor: Can I go to the info I want?

Give the control to your Users: Spread information about your business across pages. How can you go about this task? Make use of hypertext and hyperlinks. This method gives users the freedom to get what they want.

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7. Visitor: Great, I will see if the About us page throws light on the businesss passion

Write an About us Page to build Trust: Talk on why and how your business took wings in this page. Although your entire site is for taking your wares to the customers, focus the content of this page on your passion and background.

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8. Visitor: Will my credit card be safe and is it a pain to order?

Make it easy and safe to Order: Why do shoppers abandon their shopping carts? It is a question that bothers many online businesses. Too many steps to checkout a product and safety concerns are among the reasons that make users leave the virtual stores half-way. How do you overcome this problem? Make it clear on how safe and secure your website is and pave the way for a fast checkout.

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9. Visitor: I see no value with the Flash banners

Exploit the Flash banners to showcase your Strengths: Rather than use Flash banners as cosmetic pieces, harness them to turn the spotlight on your products and services benefits, customer testimonials, awards and the like. Banners that carry general info wont strike the prospects chords. So use content thats inline with the customers expectations.

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10. Visitor: What do other customers say about this business?

Leverage Customer Testimonials to Drive Sales: Positive comments on your products and services from customers make prospects see what you offer in bright light. Customer testimonials is a potent tool you should exploit to move prospects to the sales line.

TIP: When you design and host your site, its only half work done. If you want your site to work for you, you should promote it. Include your site URL on all your communication materials business card to letterhead, invoices to e-mail signature. Create as many quality back links to your site as possible. What is a back link? Its a link from another site to your site. Search engines like sites that have good back links and give a top spot to such sites in the search results.

How do you create quality back links? Heres one way: Write articles on the areas of your business or expertise and submit it to article directories. One such popular site is ezinearticles.com. In the bio section of each article, you can include a line or two about you and or your business and a link to your site. If you write, say fifty articles you can create the same number of back links to your site.

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