The first step in creating a successful website is to develop a comprehensive plan that aligns with your overall marketing strategy. The content of your website should be consistent with your offline materials. While the graphics and images don't need to be identical to those used in traditional media, they should align with your overall branding, including your style guide, color usage, and more.
It's crucial to hire a web design firm that understands your market position. Avoid firms that are overly focused on their own design capabilities, as this can lead to a site that's overloaded with graphics, plugins, and other unnecessary elements. However, it's also important to be open to their expert advice. Many promising website designs have been ruined by clients who refuse to listen to sound advice.
Pay close attention to your website's load times, or how long it takes for your site to load on an average 56 KBPS modem. If it takes more than 12-18 seconds, you risk losing visitors. However, if your target audience primarily uses broadband connections, you can incorporate multimedia content, including streaming audio or video, or Shockwave or Flash capabilities.
Simplicity is key when it comes to website design. Make your site easy to navigate by building a menu structure that aligns with industry standards. Keep as much information "above the fold" as possible, and avoid requiring users to use horizontal scroll bars unless absolutely necessary.
Your website should be designed for speed. Visitors should be able to reach their desired area of your site within one or two clicks. If they have to click through multiple menus to find the information they're looking for, they're likely to become frustrated and leave.
Website content should be designed for the web. Keep your paragraphs short, incorporate white space, and include links within your pages. Don't try to tell your entire marketing story on your site. Instead, encourage visitors to contact you via phone or email, or to fill out a profile form.
Your site should be ready for permission-based marketing. This approach, championed by Seth Godin in his book "Permission Marketing" [link to book], involves building a long-term relationship with customers by asking for their permission to continue marketing to them.
Ensure your site is optimized for search engines by identifying 8-12 keywords that people will use to find your site. Incorporate these keywords into your site content and manually submit your site to the top ten search engines.
Examine your log server files to uncover "digital tracks" made through your website. These raw files show how and from where people accessed your site, where they went on your site, and how long they stayed.
Finally, design your site with a global audience in mind. The greatest internet growth is occurring outside North America, so it's essential to build a site that can be easily accessed by people around the world. Consider load times, avoid colloquialisms that may not be understood by non-native speakers, and consider making your site's content available in multiple languages.
Emerging Methods for Effective Search Engine Ranking
Search Engine traffic has always been and ... to be one of the best ways to drive ... traffic to a web site - it presents ... about goods and services when the interest level is hi
New Sources for Targeted Web Site Traffic
... traffic is the ... of any web site today, ... for ... sites that are selling goods or services online. But, many media buyers and/or owners of web sites are paying too muc
Fast Forwarding your Business with Instant Messaging
Instant ... is rapidly becoming accepted in the business ... as a viable ... tool and process - it's faster than e-mail, free on the client side, even a novice user can easily g
