Here are some tips to help your website be as efficient as possible.
Make a beautiful but understandable web homepage. Although content is of supreme importance to any site, too much of it turns off a visitor - especially if you try to put links into valuable content on the cover page. The home page should just be that - a home page, a starting point, an introduction to your business. It must be visually pleasing but not super packed with unappealing links to your content, nor must it give the impression that all you want visitors to do is buy. Make the home page pleasing by choosing appropriate colors, and beautiful photos. Understated, without being boring. Even if you have a business website, it always helps to insert high quality photos - especially if you sell food, clothing, accessories or even offer serious information, such as financial tips. The key is to entice your visitors to check out your site by having a good-looking homepage sprinkled with clues as to what the company is all about.
Never put pop-up windows - unless you want your already interested visitor scrambling for that escape button. Now what exactly does a pop-up window hope to accomplish? Unless your sole purpose is to distract, then it generally just irritates people. The pop-up encourages the viewer to click on another link which totally defeats the entire purpose of a site. These windows sometimes have a hidden "x" that does not appear until 15 seconds later - thus forcing a person to stare at that dancing and moving window. Another thing to avoid - automatic music playing! If a searcher works at an office and is looking for information online, that blaring music is a total distraction, and not to mention, really embarrassing, especially when everybody else around her are just as equally startled by the loud music. Never give the visitor any reason to leave your site. A pop-up window with music accomplishes that well (and so you'll see).
Have clear navigation system. A navigation system to a website is equal to a legend to a roadmap - without it, all the signs and symbols become mere scribbles, and do not provide much help. Make it a point to be as clear as possible. Make names and terms easy to understand. For all the parts of your site, like FAQs and contact info, avoid any cryptic terms or "trying to sound techie or clever" terms. Assume that everyone who opens your page is a newbie. Assuming that they are all as technologically-adept as you are is a major mistake, and a major turn-off. Provide good clear links. Drop-down menus are good - they tell you what you can expect in one quick look. Or for when it gets really difficult, have a "contact us" tab handy. Remember that your website is a "one-stop-shop" of sorts - so navigating your webpage must be easy, and should not require any visitor to make inquiries of any sort.
Content must always be current. When creating a website, it is natural for the web creator to gather as much useful content as possible. But remember that part of your purpose as a web page is to provide timely and updated information. As a general rule, go over content and replace them with new material (especially if your website has an incorporated blog) every week. If you provide tips, update them every other day. By updating we mean adding and subtracting. And when choosing content, make doubly sure that they are well-researched - based on solid data and information, and not just ideas or ramblings of the writer. Remember that most viewers view a website as an ideal source of information. People generally assume that everything they read is true and are based on facts and figures.
Try to utilize fast-loading designs. You may have a good design, no pop-up windows, a great navigation map, or excellent content… but if your site takes ages to load - poof! There goes your viewer! People who go to the web for information are generally always in a hurry. They want to get what they want fast. Sure, your high-definition photos look terrific, but if it takes 5 minutes of loading time to see one picture, is that really practical? Photos and videos entice the viewers into the site, but they must never be the reasons why one leaves it. 15 seconds is the ideal amount of time for anything incorporated into your design to load. The trick is to optimize all materials like articles, links, pictures, videos, and design for use on the internet. It takes some adjustments, but your efforts will be well worth it.
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