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1) Assemble a web site development plan
that is integrated with your overall marketing processes; the content should be
consistent with offline materials (if you have any), the graphics/images should
be web friendly and consistent with your overall branding, style guide, usage of
colors, etc, if you don't have a plan don't start a website, you will end up having a website with no content, and chances of good ranking later get low especially if your website got removed from the search engines index.
2) Try not to get "geek crazy" - meaning you become
so in love with the latest design technology, your site gets bogged down with
graphics, plug ins, GIF garbage, etc. But, conversely, check your ego at the
door when you work at your design. There are too many sites cramped with
meaningless junks they literally turn visitors away. A decent design is what you
need.
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3) Pay attention to "load times," how long it takes a
web site to load on a 56 kbps modem (this is an industry average), if its more
than 12-18 seconds you may experience the "click of death" - the site doesn't
load quickly and the surfer is gone, this is so important if you want to have
surfer remain faithful to your web site
and visit so often, most people are not
patient enough to wait for information and
web pages to load.
Of course if you are targeting broadband
customers who are reaching your site via ISDN, DSL or Cable modem then you can
build a site that incorporates multimedia-ready content that may include
streaming audio or video, Shockwave or Flash capabilities - go ahead and let
those digital geeks get carried away with cutting edge content!
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4) Keep it simple - a simple website makes it easier to update and modify later, your website should be something you like, when you have something you like in your website either content you are good at or product you know, chances of this website being updated are good, make your site easy to move
around in, build a menu structure that is consistent with industry standards,
local menus (for a page or section) on the left and global menus (overall site
navigation) at the top and/or bottom of each page, keep as much information
"above the fold" (above the cutoff point at the bottom of a monitor), don't make
people use horizontal scroll bars unless absolutely necessary.
5) Inculcate "digital speed" into your overall site
design, your visitors should be able to get to their desired area of your site
within one or two mouse clicks; they will quickly get frustrated if they have to
click around multiple menus to find the information they are seeking.
6) Develop content that is web-enabled, people don't
read web site content like they do offline media, keep your paragraphs short, no
more than two to three sentences, put in white space between your content,
include links in your pages - don't try to tell your whole life story on your
site - get people to call you (hello the telephone still works!), e-mail or fill
out a profile form.
7) Make your site permission-based marketing ready -
Seth Godin, author of "Permission Marketing" book champions building a long
term relationship with a customer by asking their permission to continue to
market to them and incorporating value/information in all communication
processes.
8) Ensure your site is optimized for Search Engines
by identifying 8-12 keywords that people will use to find your site, then
incorporate these keywords in your site content (to drive relevancy with
s/engine spiders/bots) and then submit your site to the top ten search engines.
It is estimated as much as 70% of all traffic to most web site comes through
search engine. If you want to attract tons of visitors, this is an important
step to take.
9) Delve into your log server files to uncover
"digital tracks" made through your web site - your log files are raw files that
show how and from where (in most cases) people accessed your web site, where
they went on your web site, how long they stayed, etc. Web Trends is the defacto
industry standard, but there many other products on the market that can achieve
similar purpose.
10) Think global in
your overall site design - the greatest Internet growth is occurring outside
North America, so it is essential to build a site that can be accessed easily by
people around the world. What issues do you need to look at? Load times are very
important (again), develop content that avoids colloquialisms that may not be
understood by others who may not speak the same language, you may want to make
your site content available in diverse languages, there are a number of emerging
applications that will facilitate this process, ensure your ecommerce
capabilities can be utilized by all.
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