What makes a good website?
It's really no mystery. Just ask yourself, "Who is going to use
my
site and what are their expectations?"
Look at your site through your visitor's eyes. What response do you
want from your site visitors? What can you add to your site to
generate this response?
Be direct: A well planned website will follow the time proven
"Keep It Simple" guideline. Make it easy for visitors by giving them
clear directions to find their way through your site.
Be organized: Before you build your site, draw a flowchart
showing what will be on each page and how the pages will link
together and relate to each other. White space is good - don't
litter your pages with a hodge-podge of graphics, links, unrelated
information, and distracting banners.
Be courteous: Unless you have a product that must be
displayed with flashy graphics or movies, don't impose on your site
visitors by making them wait through your pictures every time they
come to your site. It might be entertaining the first time or two,
but after that, they'll get tired of it and go elsewhere.
Be yourself: Visitors to your site only see a screen - give
them a sense of who you are. Personalize your site to whatever
degree is appropriate. Just because you're using a machine to convey
your message doesn't mean you have to sound like one!
Content is king. Content
brings visitors. Visitors are
customers. Content
is critical.
Be timely: Add new
content to your site on a
regular basis and let your site visitors know when they can expect
new information. This will keep your site
"sticky" which means that visitors will return frequently to your
site.
Be vigilant: Tend
your website like a garden to keep it an attractive place that
visitors will want to come back and visit; planting new seeds of
information and services, pruning the sections that need editing,
and pulling out the weeds of obsolete
content and components.
Be generous with information: When
you feature a wealth of information on your site, your
visitors will see you as being an expert
in your field. They will return to your site looking for more
valuable content. Your goal
should be to have your site the first place your clients think to go
when they need information. If your site is #1 for your clients, you
will be too!
Be creative: Writing
content is not hard. Start by
writing about what you know. (You wouldn't be
building a website if you didn't know something!) Write
about what's new in your business. Write about what's new or
newsworthy in your neighborhood, town, state, etc. Write about your
services. Write about tips and tricks your site visitors will find
useful. Write about new laws that affect your clients, or business.
Write about anything you can think of that will be helpful to site
visitors. Before you know it, you'll have gathered together a nice
nest egg of those golden nuggets the Internet was founded on...
information.
Be gracious: After you've stocked your site with as much
information as you possibly can, don't play games with your site
visitors by trying to coerce them into signing a guestbook or
filling out a form before you'll give them access
to your wonderful content.
You may get a few to comply but most visitors will go to a site that
gives them the information for free.
Site visitors don't know you and are wary of giving their valuable
information away. Concentrate on first building a good relationship
with potential clients by being as helpful as you can.
How can you start that relationship?
One way is to put a "Comments" form on your site so visitors can
voluntarily give you their feedback. They will - and when you
get a "thank-you" comment from a site visitor for all your hard work
in building an informative, content
rich site, a friendly relationship has begun. |
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