On Page - Off Page SEO Techniques

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a very efficient online marketing means that provides better rankings for your website on major search engines. Therefore, you can increase the traffic on your website and eventually make it lucrative by making more sales through it.

The process of SEO basically has two sections, namely, "On page" & "Off-page".

On page

"On page" SEO is one of the SEO practices that the webmasters should be aware of. It involves the usage of various elements like keywords, meta tags, content, etc... for promoting it on the internet. It possibly will take less than an hour to learn these techniques and implement them on a website. If one could implement appropriate "On page" optimization strategies on a website, the webpage can not only rank high on the search engines but also increase the overall visibility & readability of your website. This would also help a website to increase its overall CTR (Click-Through-Rate) ratio.

Few "On page" SEO strategies are

• Always start with keyword selection, research and testing
• Title tags
• Meta tags
• ALT tags
• H1 tags
• URL structure
• Internal Linking
• Content
• Keyword density
• Site maps
• Usability
• Track target keywords

Off-page

"Off page" SEO refers to another SEO practice that is done "off the pages" of a website so as to maximize its performance in the search engines for targeted keywords. It is highly recommended that only professionals (not beginners) are made to perform this type of SEO techniques on a website so that the maximum benefit is retrieved from it. It is hardly possible to achieve high rankings for the keyword(s) if one doesn't work a lot on the "Off page" optimization of his website.

Few "Off page" SEO strategies are

• Press releases
• Article distribution
• Social bookmarking using websites like MySpace, Digg, Slashdot, etc...
• Link campaigns, such as asking complementary businesses to provide links
• Directory listings
• Link building / exchange
• Blogging
• Forum posting

http://ezinearticles.com/?On-Page---Off-Page-SEO-Techniques&id=2201817

Off-Page SEO Backlinking Campaigns For Keywords - Merits and Pitfalls

SEO experts are agreed that off-page optimisation is more important than on-page optimisation. Off-page optimisation is about procuring backlinks from other websites whereas on-page optimisation relates to enhancing webpage content and underlying coding.

It is apparent that backlinks are advantageous and search engine optimisers and website owners are understandably keen to attract them. Consequently, an SEO industry has developed based on the acquisition of backlinks either placed by individuals who undertake the task manually or by the use of programs that place backlinks by automation.

Inbound links to a webpage or website can be of benefit in three ways.

Firstly, provided the page with the outbound link has PageRank, it will release link juice (link value) to the linked page. The total quantity of link juice received determines the PageRank of the webpage. Most webpages have a link to the website homepage. As a result, HomePages will usually have higher PageRank than internal pages. In a previous article (PageRank is the Best Indicator of Competition Strength for a Keyword in SEO - New Verifiable Theory) it was demonstrated that for internal pages, Google looks at the website homepage PageRank to determine its view of the importance of the page. HomePages that are competing for a keyword receive a boost in their effective PageRank.

Secondly, the anchor text (the text used in a link) advises the search engines on the content of the linked page whether this is true or not. Famously, a search for the keyword 'click here' will reveal an Adobe page as number 1 on the search engine results page. This Adobe page has nothing to do with 'click here'. This keyword does not appear in the text of the page nor in the underlying coding. The Adobe page is top because a multitude of webpages with a link to the Adobe page have 'click here' as the anchor text.

Finally, a link on a webpage may encourage visitors to move from one website to another.

It is in the interests of search engines that they order webpages in their results pages according to merit. Techniques such as developing quality content are acceptable (White Hat) but techniques that distort the value of a webpage or website are considered as inappropriate or 'Black Hat'.

Matt Cutts, a Google spokesman, has suggested that SEO should be based on the Katamari philosophy. This concept involves starting with a small object and gradually rolling it along so that the ball becomes ever bigger.

The search engines have sophisticated means to find and disregard black hat techniques including artificial link building. For example sudden, erratic spurts of backlinks to a website would suggest that these links are artificial. Accordingly, it is essential to stay under the radar. Slow steady acquisition of a few links on a regular basis on a wide area seems sensible. Buying a thousand links to be applied once and only once will achieve little. Indeed, a website that is clearly using Black Hat techniques in excess may be penalised and removed from the pages listed by some search engines.

If we followed white hat techniques only, we would never have even an atom as a starting point to begin the Katamari technique. We need at least one link to initiate the process and this has to be acquired artificially.

One of my current areas of research interest is to look at the benefits and risks of acquiring backlinks artificially. In a previous article (The Relationship Between PageRank and Backlinks) it was shown PageRank 3 requires on average 615 backlinks, PageRank 4 nearly 2,500 and PageRank 5 nearly 70,000. Slowly acquiring links to achieve PageRank 3 or even 4 over several months may prove beneficial but artificial acquisition of 70,000 backlinks over a few weeks to achieve PageRank 5 or more is almost certainly doomed to failure.

Over the last few months, I have been evaluating the potential benefits of a program that aims to acquire backlinks slowly and appropriately. On the positive side, some of my webpages targeting keywords with relatively low keyword difficulty have improved their positioning. For example, one webpage moved from position 72 to number 2 for carpet cleaning in a London borough. On the negative side, the program created far fewer backlinks over the months as recorded by the search engines than promised and the link juice to the website was zero. The backlinks were therefore improving positioning because of the anchor text used, as in the 'click here' example above.

We can conclude that the benefit of a backlink depends firstly on the link juice it confers. This contributes to authority as demonstrated by PageRank. A backlink's anchor text contributes to search engine understanding of the keywords the receiving webpage is targeting. Link juice and anchor text are off-page factors. They act in two entirely different areas of the Google algorithm (scoring system).

Those who engage in backlinking campaigns should consider monitoring the benefits if any. The number of links to a webpage can be determined by searching for "link:pageURL" on the search engine of your choice - I recommend AllTheWeb for this purpose. More detailed information is provided by programs such as SEO SpyGlass. This program returns factors such as PageRank, outbound links and anchor text of pages that are providing the links. Changes in positioning of websites for keywords can be monitored with Link Assistant's Rank Tracker. Monitoring the claimed benefits of purchased automated linking programs or manual acquisition of backlinks will identify campaigns that are ineffective and not fit for purpose.

Backlinks that have appropriate anchor text may increase positioning of a webpage for low keyword difficulty keywords. However, backlinks without link juice do not contribute to the authority of a webpage or website. They do not increase PageRank of the receiving webpage or website. HomePage PageRank is the most important factor in the Google Algorithm (see above). Backlinking campaigns that do not procure link juice will not achieve top positioning of webpages competing for even medium difficulty keywords.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Off-Page-SEO-Backlinking-Campaigns-For-Keywords---Merits-and-Pitfalls&id=4695355

Off Page SEO Strategies - 5 Top Tips to Improve Yours

The hard truth of business in the 21st century is that almost regardless of the type of business you do, you'll be doing some of it using the World Wide Web. Whether or not you have fully embraced the Web's potential or are still only a reluctant convert the fact is that you will know that you cannot escape its power over your enterprise.

It is because of this that very few sensible modern business owners forego a website, some invest a lot of thought into the design, some throw plenty of cash at it, but almost all realise that they must at least have one. How many however understand the mechanics of getting their site shown in the results when someone uses a search engine. Having the search engines know that your site exists is not in itself a guarantee that it'll be shown high enough in results for your potential customers to find it.

The fact that the word 'Google' is now commonly used as a verb when describing a search must tell us how incredibly important search engines have become in our every day lives and where once it would have been the norm to pick-up the yellow pages it is now often more usual to turn to a search engine to find the service or business we need. It is because of this that more and more companies are being forced to consider 'Search Engine Optimisation' or SEO.

SEO or 'clever ways to get your site's details to the top of search results on search engines' has become big business of late, with many SEO firms springing up to assist us with our SEO strategies. Usually the internet marketing service that they provide will include on page and off page SEO; put simply on page SEO is all of the things you must do on your website to make it 'search engine friendly' and off page SEO is everything else that can be done away from your website across the rest of the internet to encourage traffic to your site and increase the likelihood of the search engines ranking you highly in search results.

If you are a professional with a budget for your internet marketing it is probably wise to enlist the help of a specialist internet marketing service or SEO firm, if for no other reason than the fact that SEO can be complex and time consuming and to be done well it benefits from a focused, dedicated approach, and when it comes to on page SEO some slightly techie tinkering that will have them talking about bots, spiders and crawling.

There are however several things that one can do using Off Page SEO that will definitely help your site achieve better results. If you are able to commit the man hours to improve your strategy, some techniques are more potent than others.

Here are my five top tips for reaching the front pages of the search results:

1. Blog Comments: - there are thousands of people across the net blogging away on a plethora of different subjects and almost all of them invite your interaction; bloggers want to hear your comments on their chosen subjects and so provide the facility for you to leave them. When you do, make sure that there is a link to your site attached. This type of SEO works best if the blogs are relevant to your business type.
2. Article Marketing: - if you have a flare for the written word or know someone else who'd be happy to write articles for you, submitting articles to the many and varied article directories is a very effective tool.
3. Forums: - Signing-up to various industry-relevant forums and getting involved; leaving interesting comments (with of course your website link attached to each one) will get your site noted.
4. Back Links: - if you can convince other respected, established sites that already rank highly in search results to carry a link to your own site, this is viewed very favourably by the search engines.
5. RSS Feeds: - basically a way to publish frequently updated material like blog entries; displaying the latest headlines from other websites on your own site using an RSS feed or, if your site has regularly changing content, having people subscribe to a feed from yours, is an excellent way to improve your site's Off Page SEO.

All of these tips require effort and dedication to make them work well and will not be effective unless you are prepared to dedicate a large chunk of your time and energy into making your SEO strategy work. You'll need to develop new skill sets and be persistent but above all be very, very patient.

Good Luck.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Off-Page-SEO-Strategies---5-Top-Tips-to-Improve-Yours&id=4036158

Web Design - Cost and Options

You can create your own online site if you have the time and the inclination. There are lots of website builder tools out there to support your laudable efforts, and doing your own work eliminates the time and effort you'll spend communicating what you want, a pain point for almost all design projects (just ask the two kindergarteners in a heated scrap about whether red or blue blocks should go on the block tower next).

You can also look into web design services, hire someone to create a site for you: someone well versed in web design, someone who really knows what they're doing. Or maybe they just think they are experts. Maybe they don't have the experience, the talent, the communication skills, the resources, or the training to do what they want you to pay them to do.

Either way, if you're a regular everyday business owner, someone without deep pockets and with plenty of other things to do besides sit in front of your computer, you are probably thinking that no matter how you go about getting a website, design cost is your bottom line. Which makes sense, as money truly does not grow on trees.

So, just how much can you expect to fork over for a decent web site? Design tools and design services are certainly out there, as any five-second Google search will tell you, but if this range of cost were a strong swimmer, it could probably make it across the English Channel without much trouble, maybe even back again. It's big, extending from free (though you can look here to see what free will get you), to doable, to a little bit beyond my budget... to terrifying.

Speaking of swimming the English Channel, small business owners who want to get online do feel that some propositions for web design leave them in the cold. Because the price is high, the expectations for assets (all the info about your business and brand that goes into a website) are too involved, or the lack of communication is preposterous, they are left floundering for a solution that they can actually afford, preferably one that looks, smells and acts like a decent website.

Enough chatter. Here's some info on pricing. It's subject to change, and can't possibly cover what's out there because that's a compendium and this is just a wee article. Use well, and good luck.

By the Hour

Expect to pay between $1,000 to $10,000 for an ecommerce website, depending on how experienced the designer is and where he/she lives. You can get quotes online for offshore/outsourced designers, pay a student to do the work, or invest in the talents of a professional experienced designer. If your website is just an online calling card, or brochure site, the cost is about half that. You can look for the best deal online and shoot out the job for designers to bid on, or you can shop local. One benefit of getting a local designer to create your website is that you know where they live, and that simply means they have a local rep they probably trying to build, so other local merchants or businesses will use their services.

Whether you get an hourly quote from a random designer offshore or from a clever college grad who's aunt goes to the same church as your sister's dentist, you should beware of unexpected costs, a longer timeline than you expected, and a designer/client mismatch. You can guard against these issues by:

• Getting all the facts up front regarding cost
• Having a clear idea of what you want before you begin, since the more you know, the less leeway there is for the designer to get it wrong
• Taking the time before hiring the designer to see how they communicate, respond, etc. Ideally, you will speak with other clients who have worked with them and you will have reviewed their portfolio.

Hybrid

Some web design services are a mashup of website builder tools and professional web design services. If you go this route, you can expect to pay between $500 and $2000, depending on whether it's a brochure or ecommerce site, what size of website you'll need and how much help you want.

For example, you can get a basic five page website created by a professional using a website builder template that you selected, have a chance to look it over and request changes, and be up and running at the lower end.

Or you can spend more on a custom website that's time-boxed (where a designer does most of the work, it's customized, but it's scheduled throughout and will move forward with or without your say-so) and customized. This higher end option still provides a custom result and you get more input, more opportunities to have the design changed if it doesn't suit you, but the overall cost is much more definite. Instead of an accumulation of hours you get with a private web designer, companies that offer these hybrid services (elements of control + cusomization) can tell you exactly how much you'll have to pay. Often you can request more modifications and tack on additional costs once the agreed upon work is complete, which is much different from finding out later that you've just spent more on your website than you ever planned to!

DIY Software - You can make your own website for about ten bucks a month, depending on how you do it. If you purchase website software (Dreamweaver, FrontPage) you'll pay between $150 and $400. Cheap versions are around too, but buyer beware. Sometimes it's just worth it to pay more now and save later (on money, stress, time, do-overs, etc.)

Tools - HTML editors, Flash software, form builders, graphics, and more tools are out there. If you are comfortable with these terms or you have the time and energy to invest in learning about and using these free/cheap tools, you won't be disappointed by the selection. In fact, the opposite is more often the case, and would-be DIY designers are quickly overwhelmed by too many options and no one to guide them through it all. That said, if you have the pioneer spirit and not a lot of ready cash, this might be your best bet.

Templates - Companies that recognize the time/capital limitations for businesses and anyone else have come up with solutions that make it easy and fast to set up a web site. Design templates that can be tailored to fit with your business and brand are better than ever. In addition to the basic website, you can expect a load of apps to make your site interactive, critical these days.

Bottom Line
Reinventing the wheel is an option if you have the time and you want to learn to build websites. But it's definitely not mandatory these days. As long as you know how to avoid the pitfalls of exponential costs and unending timelines, as long as you can sift through your options-and especially if you have on hand someone in web design who knows what they're doing-you can expect to have your own unique URL in no time, a place for your current and future customers or clients to find you.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Web-Design---Cost-and-Options&id=4158419

Internet Marketing News - Frank Kern Retires

Well, unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably heard the news that Frank Kern is retiring from selling Internet marketing products and teaching Internet marketing to other marketers. You're probably thinking, so what? What does this have to do with me? Well, more than you realize. In this article, I'm going to discuss the significance of Frank's retirement...assuming he actually stays retired this time.

No, this isn't the first time Frank has said this. But my gut tells me that this is going to be the last time. You're probably wondering what makes me say that. Well, according to Frank, he's venturing into the offline world of marketing. In other words, he's going to be helping brick and mortar businesses establish a web presence. Why? Because THAT is where the real money is today. Why do I say that? Glad you asked.

More and more people are realizing that in order to compete in today's world, they need a web presence, even if their primary sales are to people who walk into their establishments off the streets. They are discovering that there is a huge market out there that they can reach if they just had a professional web presence. Problem is, they know nothing about web design or web promotion. That is where Frank Kern and others like him come in.

It's no secret that this niche is relatively untapped. And the beauty of it is that each person, depending on where they live, have a whole city, state or even country at their disposal. Most local businesses don't have anything close to a web presence. The smart offline marketer who can show these people how their sales can increase by having a web presence, has a lucrative business model at their fingertips.

With people like Frank opening the doors and making it more "mainstream", it gives many marketers the same opportunity to capitalize on this market as well. And since you already have the marketing smarts, there is really no learning curve as far as tapping into this niche. Just do for these people what you're already doing for yourself.

This doesn't mean that you have to give up what you're already doing. You can easily add offline marketing to your business model without taking much time away from your main business...especially since most things can be outsourced.

It's certainly something to consider.

To YOUR Success, Steven Wagenheim

http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Marketing-News---Frank-Kern-Retires&id=4181862

Top 5 Undiscovered Web Design Features

The basic premise behind web design and web designers is to create websites for the World Wide Web. Five years ago small to medium sized web agencies would create five page websites for companies so they had a presence online. Now the web allows a company to position themselves as an authoritative source in their industry whilst providing an opportunity to interact with both current and new customers. Services such as Google Analytics have allowed companies to quantify any online spend by tracking number of visitors, where their geographically located and what pages they have viewed. Whilst 'going digital' presents a lot of opportunities it is a constantly evolving beast so it can sometimes be difficult to understand what is achievable or what is possible.

With this in mind I have listed the top 5 undiscovered web design features:

1. Online surveys: Your business succeeds by listening to what your customers want. What better way to understand what your potential customers want or what current customers think to your service and any ideas they might have than by implementing an online survey. There are two ways you can go with surveys; by using a tool such as Survey Monkey which allows you to create custom questionnaires yourself but doesn't allow you to skin the questionnaire to your branding or employ a web design agency to create a custom questionnaire tailored to your needs which can be styled to fit with your company's branding and sit on your domain.

2. Customer ratings: If your site already receives a good amount of traffic then allowing customers who purchase products online to rate those products and their experience provides valuable feedback for you and other potential customers. As long as that feedback is positive it can make the difference between purchasing a product from you or one of your competitors. This shouldn't just apply to products but services as well - what if your local Chinese takeaway incentivised customers to rate their meals online so that you could see a top 10 list of favourite Chinese meals? This would allow you as the customer to discover new meals that you might not have ever tried.

3. Straw Polls: This is similar to an online survey but it is generally limited to one multiple choice question. Straw polls can be set-up to provide real-time results to entrants providing a greater customer experience. Questions can range from asking potential customers their views on current affairs to what they think to your website or their views on a new website feature you are thinking about implementing.

4. News/RSS feeds: Perhaps you're a small company that don't have the time to write about industry events or you're a larger company creating industry news and you're looking for a way to share it, either way a news feed in the form of an RSS feed is for you. If you're a small company you can add a news feed onto your site displaying current industry news fed from a larger more authoritative site. If you're a larger site, offering your RSS feed to complimentary sites will propel your presence online.

5. Promotional codes: Promotional codes are particularly useful because they allow both online and offline marketing to be tracked and therefore optimised. For example If you run a print campaign incentivising readers to go on-line and enter a promotional code you can track the effectiveness of that print campaign with online tools!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-5-Undiscovered-Web-Design-Features&id=4366379

Why A Website Is Important For Your Business

Whether you're just starting out as a business owner or have been in business for a while, having a website is important. Your current and future clients come to expect it from the business they patronize, so if you don't have a company website, you may be missing a lot of sales. The number of businesses that are on the Web has increased dramatically and you can be sure that your competitors' websites are online too. So, why allow your competitor to beat you to a sale just because your business doesn’t have a website. 

Websites are not just for large businesses. They are a must-have for small and mid-sized businesses too. 

Millions of people surf the Internet daily, searching to find solutions to their every day needs. Some surf the web to make online purchases because it saves them time, energy, and money. Surfers visit websites to learn more about a business, and they can do so from any location and at any time.

Your virtual store is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week even when your office is closed. Think of your website as a great customer service representative, sales representative, and marketing agent. It won't get tired or go on vacation even when you do. So, you can rest assured your website continues to work for you.

As a customer service representative, your website answers questions about your company’s hours and location, what products and services you offer, and any minor details people would usually call your office to get. This will reduce tons of phone calls to your office and allow you and your staff to focus on other aspects of your business. Your website should be designed to reflect the professional image you want to convey. It should be easy to navigate, so surfers can easily locate what they looking for.


As a sales representative, a business website can increase your sales and decrease your costs. The number of online shoppers increases yearly. Online shoppers sometimes shop on a whim, so it's important to have your website available for them when they are ready to make a purchase. Adding a shopping cart to your website will allow buyers to make purchases directly from your website after-hours or just for convenience. If you are selling digital goods, you can set your website to automatically deliver the item that the customer just purchased directly to their emailbox.

As a marketing agent, your website allows you to reach out to people not just in your local community, but throughout the world. Your website will save you tons of money you would have otherwise spent on postage, paper, or advertisement. Many businesses include a contact or feedback form on their website which helps them generate leads. Visitors to their site can be included in subscriptions or advertisements that are emailed about new company products and services.

Additionally, if you need to communicate news or information to vendors, clients, or the general public, you can add the content to your website right away and post it online for all to see. You can easily direct friends, family, and future clients to your website by simply adding your website address to your business cards. A website is a great tool that promotes your company and enhances word-of-mouth.

So, why is a website important for your business? Because it's exactly what your business needs to thrive in this day in age. Your business needs it and your customers expect it.


http://www.articlealley.com/article_859671_4.html

Examples of Bad Web Site Graphic Design

There are two major problems inherent in most graphic design for the Internet. One of is 'too much' and the other is 'no connection'. Designers tend to put 'too much' emphasis on the graphic elements which can take away from the actual site content, and they tend to have images and graphics which don't really connect to their website's purpose or theme. Remember that there is no magic formula for a successful website or even for good graphic design. This article is designed to clarify and answer the questions a potential audience will ask themselves when looking at your graphic design. 

There are VERY successful websites that use the "bad" techniques labeled here, but generally and for a large number of websites it will be to their great benefit to at least consider the following critique of graphic design for the Internet. Too many designers put the visual elements above the actual content of site. For most purposes this is a bad design trait. Although it's repeated over and over again, it can result in frustrated customers and more important a lot lower percentage of people who actually read your site. Although graphics and visual elements are important, the core to any website is its content or information it wishes to extend to its audience. On most websites this comes in the form of text with hyperlinks to other areas of interest. This is slowly changing as more dynamic content becomes more popular online as broad band and high speed internet access change the way we surf.


There are two major problems inherent in most graphic design for the Internet. One of is 'too much' and the other is 'no connection'. Designers tend to put 'too much' emphasis on the graphic elements which can take away from the actual site content, and they tend to have images and graphics which don't really connect to their website's purpose or theme. Remember that there is no magic formula for a successful website or even for good graphic design. This article is designed to clarify and answer the questions a potential audience will ask themselves when looking at your graphic design. 

There are VERY successful websites that use the "bad" techniques labeled here, but generally and for a large number of websites it will be to their great benefit to at least consider the following critique of graphic design for the Internet. Too many designers put the visual elements above the actual content of site. For most purposes this is a bad design trait. Although it's repeated over and over again, it can result in frustrated customers and more important a lot lower percentage of people who actually read your site. Although graphics and visual elements are important, the core to any website is its content or information it wishes to extend to its audience. On most websites this comes in the form of text with hyperlinks to other areas of interest. This is slowly changing as more dynamic content becomes more popular online as broad band and high speed internet access change the way we surf. 


In the future the main content might come from a mix of audio, video, and slideshow formats, but for now it's mainly simple text. So your audience has to read those tiny black characters. Overly complex or continued animation, harsh contrasting edges and color combinations can give too much to the graphic elements and make actually reading your pages difficult. If you're over using the graphics, your audience will read a lot less and that means they'll take away a lot less of the information.

Some major signs that a graphic designer is of the "too much" camp include:

Little text boxes with scroll bars: Don't you hate that? Nobody likes text all scrunched up in a little box like that. It's hard to read and involves lots of scrolling, so why do it?

Overly busy backgrounds: keep it simple or at least a lower contrast so you spare you audiences' eyes and allow them to focus on the content of your site.

LONG animated intros or animation sequences: Remember attention span, attention span attention span. Online surfers do not have the attention span to wait for a long overly done intro or animation.

The second major shortcoming that most graphic design for the Internet is the lack of cohesion or a clear connection of the graphic elements to the purpose of the website. The web is absolutely stuffed with sites that you can't even tell what they do or are about by their first page. The images, logos, and visual design does not connect to the company's theme or purpose. Your online audience has a VERY limited attention span. They may have stumbled onto your site on accident. This isn't TV, on most sites there is no audio directing your visitors as to what they're seeing.

People aren't necessarily going to read the text of your website just because a girl in a bikini is on it. You also see this concept in sites that are too simple. Simplicity is good, but when taken to the extreme, it can make it very difficult to figure out the sites purpose and extract the basic information that your audience needs, before they commit to reading through large areas of text.

Some major signs that a graphic designer is of the "lack of cohesion" camp include:

Lots of different style graphics: If a website seems to jump time periods, color schemes, and image themes that is not a good sign.

LARGE text areas without any graphics: The web is about a mixing of graphic, text, and other elements. Too much text and it becomes difficult to gather meaning quickly.

Hard to see connection to product/service: Logo, tagline, and text on beginning pages do not describe what the website is actually about. The graphic design should key people in both emotionally and intellectually to the purpose of the website.


http://www.articlealley.com/article_30043_4.html

Top Ten Features of a Good Web Site

As a professional web design business, we have created and re-created many sites. The "great" ones have certain things in common. We thought we'd share those elements with you.

1. Easy to read. If background colors or images are used, the text on top of the background should be in a color that can easily be seen. Use a color scheme that complements and is pleasing to the eye. White space between images and sections of text make a page easier to view.

2. Easy to navigate. A visitor should be able to find the information they are looking for without hassle and frustration. The site's navigation buttons should be grouped together. If image links are used, text links should also be provided for those people who have images turned off on their browser or are using an older browser that doesn't support images.


3. Comfortably viewed. A Web site should be easily viewable in all screen sizes without a visitor having to scroll horizontally (left to right).

4. Quick to download. Graphics and sounds add download time to a web page. Use them sparingly. Don't make your visitors wait too long for your site to download or they will click away and probably won't return. It is a good idea to find out what the approximate download times are for people who are using 28K and 56K telephone modems. Not everyone has DSL or cable Internet.


5. Avoid dead links. Make sure that links on all your pages are working, whether they are internal links to pages within your site, or links to external Web sites.

6. Keep the content fresh. People are more apt to return to your Web site if they find new and interesting material. Post articles on your site, offer a newly updated "Internet Special" or provide fresh, helpful links. All these things cause visitors to bookmark your site as a reference tool.

7. Clear and to the point. Visitors should have a clear understanding of what your Web site is about when they visit. Studies have shown that people do not like to read computer screens, so keep your Web site copy interesting to read and to the point.

8. Keep your target audience in mind. Think about the people who would be interested in visiting your Web site. If you are designing a web site about razor blades and shaving cream for men, the site should have a masculine feel to it. Decorating the page with pink hearts and roses would not be a good idea!

9. Provide a form for visitors to contact you. Visitors are more likely to fill out a form to contact you than clicking on an e-mail link. Always make things easy for your visitors especially contacting you.

10. Browser compatible. Check your Web site in the most popular browsers to make sure everything is displayed properly. The top two browsers used are Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, but there are others such as the AOL browser, Mosaic, Opera and Web TV to name a few. Various versions of the same browser also display differently. It is a good idea to have a program on your computer that checks browser and version compatibility.

As you may have noticed from the above list, a great Web site isn't about fancy graphics, java scripts and animations. It is about creating a pleasurable, useful experience for your visitors one they will want to repeat over and over again!



http://www.articlealley.com/article_638_4.html

Good Landing Page Design Tips

What is a landing page

That's been a lot of talk about landing page these days. So, what's a landing page? It's the page your website visitor arrived at after clicking a link. The link could be on any page on your website or pay per click advertising or banner ads or keyword search. 

The goal of landing page is to cause your visitors to take definite action. You don't want your visitors to leave until you get them to do what you want them to do. To click on the buy button, to sign up for an affiliate program, to download a free ebook or software, to sign up for a course, or to subscribe to your free newsletter. 

The landing page is a direct marketing copy. Your visitors landed here through a link on your webpage, an ad, a keyword search, pay per click advertising, banner ads, and now you want to convert them.


Here are some tips to design a good landing page...

1.Content Relevance

Your landing page content must be relevant to what people were looking for when they applied the click through. The closer the match is the higher the chances of conversion.

2.Be Concise

Net writing is different than offline writing. Generally, when people surf the Internet they give short attention span to what they are reading. So be concise. When visitors arrive at your landing page they are already predisposed to buy, or they want to get more information of your product or service. By all means give them information but be concise. Don't use more than three sentences to communicate a point. Think through and concise what you want to say. Use bulleted list to communicate the benefits of your product or service.


3.Get straight to the point

The landing page is a highly customized marketing copy for your product or service or affiliate product or service. Don't distract your visitors with advertisements, links to other web pages. Don't let your visitors wade through a whole bunch of hosh posh before they get to want they want.

4.Focus

Dedicate one landing page to only one product or service. Don't try to promote multiple products (unless they are of the same product group)or services on one page. Create separate landing pages and campaigns if you have multiple products or services to promote. Focus on one product or one product group on each landing page.

5.Be Factual

Use facts and figures instead of generalities.

General: Prices Reduced
Factual: Prices Reduced by 20 percent

6.Clear Call to Action

Tell your visitors what you want them to do. Buy now, click here to download, fill in name and email address to subscribe or whatever. Keep all call to action text in bold.

7.Readable Text

Sure, there's nothing much to look at a page with white background and black fonts. But it's definitely easier to read the text than a red background with black fonts. Remember, it's the words that sell. Your website visitors must be able to read your text with ease.

8.Navigation Links

Not at all, if you could help it. The only link you want your website visitors to click on your landing page is the call to action link.

9.Graphics and Images

Keep visual effects to a minimum unless you are running an online audio or video business, real estate business, or selling holiday destinations. Keep in mind that for direct marketing it's the words that sell. Graphics and images serve only to enhance your text communication, not cloud it.

10.Grammatical and Spelling Errors

Check through your text and correct all grammatical and spelling errors. Otherwise it gives your website visitors a negative impression of you and the company you represent. Once visitors have a negative impression, it becomes difficult to convince them of the product or service that you are promoting. First impression counts a lot.

11.Make it personal

Make it personal to connect with your visitors. Use a lot of You
and Your in your text.

12.Make your text clear and simple to understand

Avoid colloquialism or jargons. Use terms and phrases that
people readily understood. Use short sentences. Phrase them in the active voice.

A good landing page will always sport good conversion rate as compared to a poor one. Take the time to think and rethink, work and rework your landing pages. Don't make the mistake of just optimizing for the search engines. You need to optimize your landing pages for humans too. Ultimately, it is humans that give you the sales. 


http://www.articlealley.com/article_10619_4.html