When designing a website you sometimes only have one chance to keep the Internet visitor from clicking the back button on their web browser. Whether you are selling a product or offering a service, remember your website design represents your business.

For years, we have been told that when going to an interview you have 10 seconds to make a lasting first impression. There is no difference when designing your website than making the first impression in an interview. You are making a first impression with the internet visitor who has searched for what you are offering in your website design. The first impression can make the difference between in a paying customer or just a visitor to your website.

Here are just 5 simple rules to keep in mind when designing your website.

Rule #1. Limit the use or do not use flashy banners and advertisements at the beginning of you website. There is a time and place for the banners and advertisements.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking on a website to see cartoon characters and advertisements for other products flashing in front of your face. This can be too much for your potential customer. Your customer is there for a purpose and if the blatant advertisements or flashing banners turn them off they may just hit the back button before they find what they are looking for. The only exception to this rule is determined by the purpose of you website.

Rule #2. Make sure your website design make it easy for the visitor to find the navigation buttons. If a customer has to search for a navigation button to find information about the company or the navigation buttons are not working, the visitor may get frustrated and leave you website.

As a rule of thumb, your navigation buttons should be on the left side of your web page because the majority of people read from left to right. Think about reading a newspaper or a book. You look at the headlines then you read from the left to the right.

Rule #3. When visitors are browsing your site, have a clear indication for the visitor of where they are on your website and how to get to other parts.
You may want to put a link on each page that the visitor clicks to take them to the home page or another page relating to the information currently viewing. In other words do not confuse your visitor or your visitor may just click off the website totally.

Rule #4. When designing your website pay close attention to loading time, the time it takes your web pages to load. You can reduce loading time by reducing graphics on each page. A good website design should load under twenty seconds. The longer it takes the pages to load the more frustrating it can be to the visitor. People want it yesterday not today and definitely not tomorrow.

Rule #5. Use a font that is common to all web browsers and easy to read. You have to think of your market. If you are selling a product or service that is used by older individuals you may want to increase the font. Most of us are not going to get younger and with age, we find our eye sights are not what they use to be. In addition, different web browsers display fonts differently. Therefore, you want to use a universal font compatible to the popular web browser for better viewing.

Bonus Rule #6. Make sure the information on your website is up to date, and relevant to what you are offering. If your website is selling 32", LCD Flat Screen TVs you should not be offering products to repair your driveway. I know that is extreme but people want to know they are visiting a website that has up to date information and is relevant to what they are searching for. These are just a few rules of website design. There are many other things to adhere to when designing your website for optima visitors.

When designing your website look at it from the customers' or visitors' standpoint. Would you want to visit this website? Would you want to purchase a product from this website? If you answer "no" then correct the problems. If you deal with customer service, you need to do as they do. Get out from behind the counter and see what the customers see from where they stand. If you go "ugh", that is not good and you need to make some changes.

Source:

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About the Author: Pat Turman is a successful mid-level manager and internet entrepreneur. She co-owned a quarter million dollar e-retail store selling golf equipment for women, runs numerous online businesses, and manages a company with revenues of over a million dollars. She holds a BBA from an accredited University and numerous awards and certificates. www.eznichewebsitedesign.com

9:50 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 11

Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web

 PowerHomeBiz Small & Home Business summarizes the common pitfalls and mistakes people make in developing content for their business. 

Success on the Web starts with the quality of your content. It is your content that engages the visitors, and turns these visitors to buyers for e-commerce sites. Your site's traffic depends on how well you write your content, and how well you understand what search engines look for in a site content.

One common mistake I see from small business entrepreneurs, particularly the newbies, is that they are always on the lookout for shortcuts to get huge traffic. They look for programs or banner exchange schemes that can give them 100,000 visitors quickly. Many even turn to the dark side and spam the search engines, thinking that they can trick Google and other search engines. They overlook the simpliest secret to success on the Web -- content.
If you want your website or blog to succeed, grab a copy of Jon Wuebben's new book "Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web." This is the best book I've read on the topic of writing on the Web in a way that search engines love (afterall, what's the point of writing on the Web when your website is nowhere to be found?). The author provides an excellent guide on how to present your product and teaches you how to use the right keywords in your site copy, among other important tips.

I interviewed Jon Wuebben (JW) on the importance of writing copy that search engines love and compel visitors to buy, and here are his tips:
How important is writing optimized, compelling and keyword-rich copy on the Web, particularly for small businesses?
JW: It’s critically important because it can help your site move up to page 1 in the search engines for your keyword phrases, which in turn gets people to click on your site, which means more leads and more sales. It’s that simple. And it’s the most affordable marketing option you have. It will pay dividends for years to come.

What are the top 5 tips to remember when writing content for the Web?

1. Use keywords
2. Use a call to action
3. Write lots of different things – web pages, blog posts, press releases, articles and more
4. Write about benefits
5. Write often!

How can writing well on the Web enable small businesses to compete with the big boys?
JW: The web doesn’t discriminate between large and small companies. Your site can rank above a Fortune 100 brand simply by writing compelling, keyword rich content – it happens all the time. That means you have a fair shake at the business. And that never could have happened before the web. Plus, many people like to give business to young, growing companies. So, positioning yourself well can be huge.

What are the most common mistakes in SEO copywriting?
JW: Most businesses don’t understand how important their “meta” tags are in the code of their web pages. This is an important place for keyword content. There are two tags that are critically important> the title tag and description tag.
The title tag is what appears at the very top of your browser window and should be a string of 2 -3 keyword phrases or a “headline” that incorporates an important keyword phrase. Its also what appears first in the search engine results pages when people search for you, hence the “headline” concept – you want to them to click on your title tag so they will come to your site and find out more about you.
The description meta tag explains what the page is about and is also a place where you want to use those same keyword phrases that were in the Title tag.
Also – and here’s a biggie - Every page should have unique title and description tags. This is probably the biggest offense that websites make, I see it all the time.

What other lessons can you share to small businesses regarding copywriting Web content?
JW: Look for a good niche and start a blog. It’s the single best thing you can do right now to maximize your online presence through the power of words.

Source: PowerHomeBiz Small & Home Business Blog: Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web

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September 15

HOW TO: Build a Web Form Using JotForm

Office Live Small Business includes a form generator  module and works only if you have Business Applications enabled on your account. However, for those who decide to manage your Office Live site using a 3rd party design tool such as SharePoint Designer or Dreamweaver you don’t have this option. 

To add forms to your site using a 3rd party design tool often requires programming skills in HTML, JavaScript, and ASP.NET. Welcome to JotForm. A free easy to use form generator tool that doesn’t require any programming skills or knowledge.

To get started:

1. Signup to get an JotForm account

2. Create a New Form. The Form wizard displays with templates to choose from. To create a Contact Us form, select the Contact Us template and click Finish on the wizard (You have the option to click Next, if you choose to change the layout of the form).

3. The Contact Us form is displayed. At which point you may customize the form further.

To add form elements or headers to your form, click on an item in the Toolbox and drag over to your form. For example, say you want to add a check box to your form. You would simply click and hold your mouse on “CheckBox” then drag to your form. Don’t worry about the placement of the form element. You can change that later.

To change the checkbox options, click on a check box and the Properties menu will expand to the right.

4. As a security precaution, it is a good idea to add CAPTCHA to your form. CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used to within web forms to determine whether a user is actually human and not a bot.

To add CAPTCHA using JotForm, select Power Tools on the right-hand side then click and drag Captcha to your form.

5. Lastly, arrange the form elements in your form in the order in which you want them to appear. This is accomplished by simply clicking and dragging the form element to its desired location.  Save the form then click Source to obtain the HTML code to add to your site.

For more information on JotForm, visit the JotForm Tutorials. Also, if you have questions regarding implementing JotForm in your Office Live Site, please join me Wednesday, September 17 at 8pm ESD via live web conference for a hands-on training. The workshop is FREE and is on a first come, first serve basis.

11:38 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

August 14

15 Desktop Blogging Tools Reviewed

Some time ago, we posted a blog post about using Windows Live Writer as a tool for writing and managing blog posts. In addition to Windows Live Writer which by far is one of the best blogging tools out there, Glen Stansberry reviewed 15 desktop blogging tools which help facilitates  the blogging process. 

Here’s a list of blogging tools reviewed by Glen that you should consider for your main blogging tool:

1. Windows Live Writer

2. MarsEdit (Mac)

3. BlogDesk (Windows)

4. Zoundry Raven (Windows)

5. Ecto (Mac)

6. w.bloggar (Windows)

7. Thingamablog (Window, Mac, Linux)

8. Qumana (Windows, Mac)

9. Scribefire (Firefox)

10. BlogJet (Windows)

11. Flock (Mac, Windows, Linux)

12. Post2Blog (Windows)

13. Bleezer (Mac, Windows, Linux)

14. AirPress

After giving several blogging tools a twirl, I still think Windows Live Writer is the best blogging tool. However, if you’re on a Mac you want to download MarsEdit.

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August 03

How To: Edit Your Images without Software

What’s missing from Office Live Small Business is a online image editing tool. Hence, we must depend on image editing software such as PhotoShop, PaintShop Pro, or Fireworks to edit the images for your web site. These programs are very costly and robust applications that include more features then what’s normally needed.

Welcome to PicResize, a free online image editing tool that allows you to resize, crop, rotate, and apply dozen of features and filters.

To edit your images with PicResize:

1.  Click Browse to upload your image to PicRize then click Upload.

2. Modify the picture by selecting one of the icons.

3. Once your satisfied with the image, select the file type (jpg, gif, & png) by clicking the Save As drop down menu.

4. Click Save to download the image to your hard drive.

Overall, PicResize is a great online tool for when you want to make basic edits to your images. Try PicResive at www.picresize.com

12:24 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)