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TopWebSite article re Top 10 Web Site Tips 01/09/00 701 words excluding title and bio Please include our author bio and a link to http://www.topwebsite.co.uk/, thanks. Author images available at http://www.topwebsite.co.uk/cliimg/ This article available as html formatted | plain text

Top 10 Web Site Tips

The number of web site design companies is growing as quick as the Internet itself as everyone and their dog with a book and a copy of Frontpage is cobbling together web sites and charging huge fees for half a job. So how do you avoid the coding cowboys and find your own web site wizard? Our top 10 tips for designing your web site will, I hope, help you to achieve your online ambitions.

1/ Layout and design should be consistant throughout the site with navigation in the same positions on each page. Typefaces and effects such as bullet points should be the same throughout. If you use Bold page titles do so on every page.

2/ Make the text easy to read, keep it aligned left not centred, not too small. All capitalized text is like shouting and harder to read that lower case text. Black text on a white background is easier than white text on a dark background. Web Site useability advice is available at www.useit.com

3/ Make all hyperlinks easy to identify. If they are not in the standard red and blue then give them empasis using bold, underlines or larger font size. Ensure graphic links are clearly labled. Ease of use is more important than using the latest flashy effects.

4/ A quick download is crucial. Avoid using the latest cool animated effect as many users are slow to accept new developments. Users won't wait for large image files or animations to load, they just click on the next web site and are lost. Keep the programming code lean by hand editing out unnecessary code and optimise images for speedier loading using image compression software such as www.xat.com

5/ Have an opt-in e-mail mailing list and contact the people on it regularily. Having a form which allows people to request you to contact them with special offersallows you to build your potential customer database and e-mail them to reinforce your brand and inform them of special offers and new developments.

6/ Make it easy for people to find your web site. Ask other related web sites to link to yours and link back to theirs. Visitors following links are likely to be looking for exactly what you are selling and the links help you achieve a higer position on many search engines. Get listed in directories and on search engines. Use Meta Tags to target each page of the site at the content of that page and employ a specialist search engine consultant alongside your web site designer. Find information about developing a search engine friendly web site at www.topwebsite.co.uk

7/ Check how the site looks on different computers, in different screen resolutions, different colour settings and different browsers. Netscape browser users won't be able to see the site at all if the html code has errors. Check your web site for errors and problems at www.netmechanic.com

8/ Use your server logs to identify your vistors habits, how they find your site and what browser and screen resolutions they use. Then fine tune your web site to match your visitor profile. Look at which pages they visit most and arrange the web site to place your best offers where they will be seen most. Log analysis software is available at www.analog.cx

9/ Content is King so give visitors a reason to come back to the web site. Forums create a community feel to the site while industry news and independent information gives users a reason to bookmark your web site. Establishing your site as a hub of free information reinforces your reputation as an expert in your subject. Free news feeds are available at www.moreover.com

10/ Offer a downloadable e-catalogue from your web site. This will sit on users computer desktop ready for when they want to purchase your products. Software from www.webcompiler.com does this job admirably. They may not purchase today but your e-catalogue will reinforce your brand everytime they look at their computer.

With the explosion of Internet use and the opportunities this presents those businesses which embrace the web now will be the ones who reap the rewards of their forsight in the months and years to come.

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