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Telling people about your site
If you create a one page web personal web
site, when guests arrive to your site you want to tell them about yourself.
It is the same no matter how big or small you site is. But don't inundate
your visitor with information overload. Tell them what you want them to
know. Be direct, explicit and use brief sentences. Have you visited a site
before only to find once you arrived you felt lost? Right near the top of
your home page, you should include a paragraph that "tells it all". Again be
short and to the point. Tell you visitors what they are going to find now
that they are there.
Navigating your site
It is difficult to drive a car and find your
way to your final destination without a roadmap or good directions. The same
holds true for site navigation and you don't want to be lead down dead end
streets. Navigating your site needs to be easy. Use side link bars. That is
where most people look. Make the links visible and descriptive. For example,
if you want to direct your visitors to where they can download mp3 music
make sure the link reads: music downloads, or free music downloads. Don't
just say, music!
Make absolutely sure that all your links
connect where they are supposed to and you provide a way for your guests to
get back or on to more of your site. NOTE: Use links to help your visitors
find their way around but don't give them links off your site unless of
course that is what you really want them to do. If you do provide a link off
or away from your site, make sure it opens another browser so your guests
can easily return to your site or you may lose them forever.
When creating text on a web page, if at
anytime your text refers to a location on your site for more information, be
sure to make a hyperlink to direct the guest there. Do let your visitors
second guess. The simpler you make navigating the better off your visitors
will be and they will feel like returning and that is the key to success.
Site Maps
Site maps are becoming more and more a useful tool. As
customers become more adept at surging the web, they are more and more
looking for site maps. Maps can give them a lot of information in one
location, so design your site map accordingly. Site maps are basically a
list of all your pages within your site. Use descriptive titles for each of
your pages and at your site map. It is extremely important to note that
search engines are looking for site maps when they crawl your site. The map
gives search engines a lot of data and information all on one page.
Fast Loading Sites
Statistics show that the average web surfer
has no patience. 8-10 seconds is about the duration of time that guests are
willing to wait before they move on. If your site is selling flash programs,
then you may be permitted more time but a rule of thumb is "give the visitor
the option". Let them decide if they want to see your incredible creation of
graphics and flashing banners, photos etc. Make sure that no more than about
50k of data goes on a page. There are tips and tricks you can use to
"entertain" your guests while a graphic loads but if too much time is used
you will probably lose a customer. The following is a list of some of the
things that causes pages to load too slowly:
» Large
graphics, java applets, flash programs and ad banners. Entice your guests to
view your photos but don't force them. Flashing ad banners might look good
but again statistics prove customers won't click on them and if a rotating
banner isn't designed properly it won't work.
» Too much
information on one page. About 50k is the limit. If you can't say what you
need to say or show it, split it onto another page. It will be faster than
expecting a guest to sit and wait while a page loads.
» Bad hosting
services. Check with a perspective hosting service to make sure they can
transfer your data at a good speed otherwise no matter what you do, it may
not be enough. Contact Information
What is it that you are trying to hide? That
is the question I ask myself when I arrive at a website that I find I have
no way of contacting even the webmaster. I guess inexperienced or very bad
webmasters do not include contact information in their designs. It is
imperative that you do and give a physical address of where you are located
too. Even if you work from your office at home, include that address and a
telephone number. Many people still prefer to communicate verbally about
important business matters. This information can be included on each page or
you can create just one page of contact information.
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