| Free Adobe Photoshop website templates by Colorifer.com. Web design articles | |
|
|
|
|
Ten Steps to a Winning Home Page
There's no doubt about it - the first page your site visitors see is the most important page of your website. If your home page isn't appealing, chances are the rest of your pages will never even be seen by your visitors. It helps to think of your home page as the "front door" to your online business. Will it invite people to come in and look around, or persuade them to take their dollars elsewhere? Here are ten tips for making your home page a winner: 1) Don't keep them waiting. Obey the "Eight Second Rule" (the one that says your Web page should load in eight seconds or less even over slower modems). Otherwise the viewer will probably lose patience and click the "stop" button. 2) Identify yourself. The first order of business is to identify your company and products or services. Let the viewer know they've arrived at the right destination and give them an idea of what you have to offer. 3) Make a good first impression. Your color scheme, design, graphics, and text should all contribute to a favorable first impression and convey the right corporate image. Your site visitors will probably decide within 5 to 10 seconds whether to stay and look around, so you've got to keep them interested. 4) Provide a preview. Use links, text and graphics to give the viewer an idea of your website's contents and encourage them to explore the rest of your site. 5) Don't make a splash. Don't make your first page a "splash page" (meaning a large graphic containing little or no text that's designed to act as a gateway to the rest of your site). Your visitors won't be impressed and neither will the search engines. 6) Lead the way. Provide obvious ways for your visitors to move to the various sections of your website (links, a site map, site search feature, etc.). You want them to come in and look around, so make it easy for them to find their way. 7) Don't waste the space. A monitor screen doesn't give you a lot of space, so use the available space for content with the maximum impact for your home page -your product line, main benefits, competitive advantage, etc. 8) Don't link away. You work hard to get people to visit your home page, so don't lose them right off the bat by giving them the opportunity to link away to another site. Put reciprocal links, ads, etc. on other pages deeper within your site. 9) Start selling. From the moment a visitor arrives at your home page, you should begin leading them toward the sale. Write concise but powerful copy that goes beyond telling to selling and emphasizes benefits to the user. Consider posting a special offer on your opening page. 10) Be kind to search engines. Including accurate title, description, and keyword meta tags in your HTML code, plus relevant content, will go a long way toward getting your site indexed properly by search engines, and that will lead visitors to your virtual doorstep. Remember that many search engines use "spiders" to explore your website automatically, so your home page must include links to the other sections of your website. Jane McLain is a Web developer and SEO specialist and the webmaster, an online resource center for netrepreneurs with tools and information to help you plan, build, launch and grow your e-business.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Web Copywriting: The Psychology Of Scarcity, Less Is More If You Want Faster Sales Countdown to Armageddon - at least you'd think so judging from some of the garish copy and blaring headlines screaming at you from so many websites.At the opposite extreme though, you've some sites which don't even have a single decent headline anywhere that captures visitors attention, let alone leads them into captivating copywriting that'll get them a sale. Is Your Website's Copy Up to the Mark? The Internet is a relatively new medium. What works for you in your printed offline brochures and advertising materials may or may not work on your web page. The Proper Way to Use Images Most people will agree there is nothing more annoying than going to a site and it taking forever and a day to download all the images just so you can see the site. Then after waiting, realizing that the site is completely ugly, irrelevant,or not what you thought is was, and wasting your time. Alternative to Web Site Templates and Design Software Before I discovered the concept of Web site templates, I felt woefully inadequate to build my own site. It was the old "catch-22" where I didn't have the money to pay to have a site built, I needed a site to make the money to have a professional site, and without the knowledge of how to build a site, I had no hope of getting a site. Lead Capture Pages Explode Your Direct Sales Business Online! Are you building a direct sales or mlm business online? Using lead capture pages can significantly improve your recruiting results and save you lots of time and money! I have known a few people who earned 5-figure monthly incomes in their mlm businesses and they used lead capture pages for Internet marketing.What is a lead capture page?A lead capture page is similar to a minisite in that it is a simple, one page website that leads your visitor to take ONE action. Sales Versus Customer Oriented Websites Should Generating Revenue From A Website Be The Prime Motivator? A pure sales site has only one purpose.. Color Psychology in Marketing On the internet we don't deal with face to face selling. The internet is a visual and psychological medium. Other Ways to Look at Things Many people today are tired of the Microsoft software that came pre-packaged with their operating system. Some have switched over to Apple's Macintosh line, but for the most part we just put up with what we have. Plugging the Dreaded World Wide Web Black Hole is Just the First Step You have created your custom error page so now all of that traffic that use to go into the World Wide Web black hole now stays on your web page. But if you don't do the following 15 Minute exercise once or twice a month you are not Maximizing those Lost visitorsCustom error pages are a crucial part of your web page but they are just not enough. Keep It Simple, Stupid: The Beauty of a Clean Cut Website Don't knock it; "Keep It Simple, Stupid" is a great rule to live by. Nobody likes a website to "yell" at them, with blaring colors and flashing lights. Basic Graphic Design Wether you design your business brochures, flyers, web page, or ads there are some things that you need to know. There are some basic graphic design principles that those of us trained in the commercial art/graphic design field don't always share. Turn Harmful 404 Error Pages Into Helpful 301 Redirects It's a fact, Page Not Found, known as a 404 error, can harm your website Ranking with Search Engines as well as being a Turn-Off for Visitors.A search engine that repeatedly gets a 404 error will de-list the page from its index. 3 Tips For Writing Content That Will Make You Sales Content is king. Without content your website is an empty shell, a skeleton with no flesh, an empty vessel. 5 Website Design Tips to Make Your Site More Attractive The question that I most frequently hear from people is "How can I attract thousands of visitors to my site each month?" Well, driving high traffic to your site is important, but what's even more important, is designing a website that makes them stay.After all, what's the use of spending all your time and money on creating a unique product that many people want, building a 100-page site, winning top rankings on search engines, and spending $5,000 in advertising if visitors don't stay once they arrive?In this article, you're going to learn 5 important website design tips to make your site more attractive. Website Checklist 10 Basic Things Your Website Should Have .. Use Exclusive Content - When Reprint Articles Dont Do Enough There is no doubt that reprint articles can serve lots of search engine traffic to your site.. 6 Reasons Why A Website Is Crucial To Your Business Since I'm a web designer, I have a tendency to think everyone understands that having a website is important. Every once in a while, I have to remind myself that some people just haven't heard yet!Why is having a website such a big deal? Here are 6 reasons:A website increases your credibility. Business Opportunity for Graphic Designers As a graphic designer, you are sitting on a gold mine. You have a skill other people do not have, and you can use that skill to earn a good living. Website Design: 10 Smart Tips To Improve Your Ad Copy Your website design may be affecting your sales in ways that you may not believe.Here are a few website design tips to help you improve your website and ad copy for greater profitability:1. Selling Multiple Products? Avoid These Top Blunders When your web site sells more than a dozen items, you may face a fierce challenge of helping shoppers find what they are looking for. You'll need to classify products into categories, but these will serve as obstacles and even deal killers if those categories do not match those in the heads of shoppers.
|
|
2007-2008 © Copyright colorifer.com. All Rights Reserved. Free Adobe Photoshop templates. Web Design Articles | Site Map | Terms of Use 
|
