Website Analyst Newsletter
Meeting Your Needs With Excellence
Issue 3
February 2000
Editor: Lucian Millis, editor@website-analyst.co.il
Publisher: Website Analyst http://www.website-analyst.co.il/
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Editor's Note
2. Understanding Your Visitors by Wanda Loskot
3. Atomz.com - Search Engine For Your Site
4. Links of Interest
5. Pick Of The Month (Echo Web)
6. List Management
7. Contact Information
1. Editor's Note
Dear Friend,
If you have enjoyed WA Newsletter, please consider telling
somebody else about it. The more subscribers there are, the
more time I am able to justify spending on creating valuable
content for you all! Thanks so much!
2. Understanding Your Visitors - Key to Your On-Line Success
by Wanda Loskot
So, you want to know what can make your website really
effective? I can tell you what. It is your concern for
visitors. Understanding their needs and their wants.
Responding to their wishes. Because you are building the
web page for them - not for you, right?
So, take a look at your website and examine how does it fit
with the psychology of your visitors. Keep in mind that
people act and react differently on the web - so much so,
that sometime it is difficult to believe that these are the
same people who behave so "normally" in the "real" world.
a) They are always rushing
Maybe because they have soooo many places to visit, maybe
because they feel guilty that they should be doing something
else. Whatever the reasons - they are always in the hurry.
They have in their hands a deadly weapon (mouse) and they
click away whenever they get bored (and they DO get bored
really fast and easily).
Make sure then that your pages load fast, that you tell
people quickly what and where they can find and provide them
with a way to jump to any page from anyplace with really
easy navigation.
b) They expect a LOT for free
People on the internet ARE on the internet because they know
that it is a gold mine of free information. They are expecting
to find it - and they will. Once they find it, if the gold
mine is really rich - they come back for more. And they send
their friends to visit the same places.
However, they simply refuse to come back to the place that
didn't interest them when they landed there for the first time.
Build your offer around the rich, free content. Don't think
about selling - but about what you can give. Then, and only
then, offer them something so incredibly valuable, that your
visitors will be willing to pay for it.
c) They don't trust easily
People on the net are often misinformed and even paranoid
about buying on line. They are aware that anyone - even a
10 year old kid - can build an awesome website full of unique
graphics and they need to be skillfully persuaded before they
are ready to leave a name or e-mail address. And they need to
be persuaded even more before they will hand you their credit
card number.
Don't even think about selling something in the first paragraph
- resist selling on the home page at all. Use it to establish
rapport and to provide information. Romance your visitor and
use as many ways as possible to inspire their trust.
d) They love to click
Their mouse-finger is literally begging them to click. They
will request and subscribe to just about anything that somehow
looks promising - as long as it is offered free of cost and you
don't ask for too many information. Your visitors will enter
chat rooms even if they plan to remain silent, they will vote,
and they will even click on some advertising banners - all for
that thrill of clicking.
Make sure then that you satisfy their need to push that mouse
button while exploring YOUR site. Use that craving to your
advantage - ask them to subscribe, to vote, to click for more
information, to ask questions. If you don't give them
opportunity to interact, they will click anyway: they will
click to surf away.
Don't follow into the steps of those who try to change the
surfers habits instead of taking advantage of them - it is
a very costly mistake!
About the Author
Wanda Loskot is a professional business coach - if you are
seriously interested in succeeding on the internet, check
her intensive eight week course "Internet Success Boot Camp".
It is a combination of interactive telephone classes, printed
manual, e-books, daily email support, internet field trips,
and audio tapes - sign up for a free tele-class-
http://internetsuccesscoach.com/cgi-bin/af/b.cgi/1011
3. Atomz.com - Search Engine For Your Site
You can let your visitors search your web site, and get
reports of what they're looking for! No annoying ad banners
are shown with your search results, just a small "Powered by
Atomz.com" graphic. The Atomz.com Search search engine offers
a variety of professional-level features to make searching
your site easier. You can control exactly what pages are top
ranked for the most important words and phrases on your site!
Free for sites with up to 500 pages.
Fast setup and easy to configure.
http://www.Atomz.com/
How Users Read on the Web, by Jakob Nielsen
"People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they
scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences."
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
Hard-to-use sites will fail
"Simplicity is key to satisfying users. They don't want to
spend time learning how to use a site."
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/computimes/2000/0110/compu1.htm
TIP: Is your site updated? Can your visitor see that it's
maintained? Ask yourself what can be changed without
effecting the site's existing structure. Remove anything
outdated!
Search Engine Tutorial for Web Designers
"The Search Engine Tutorial for Web Designers explains, how
to design your pages, keeping the search engines in mind,
and why it is necessary to do so."
http://northernwebs.com/set/
WebSideStory Releases New HitBox Products
HitBox Doctor, HitBox Search, HitBox Submit, and HitBox Poll.
These new tools can be downloaded free of charge from
WebSideStory's site.
http://resources.hitbox.com/
Get a free custom messageboard for your site!
http://www.insidetheweb.com
Marketing a Web business: Why, When, Where, How!?
"Your home page must be clear, not cluttered, the navigation
should run smooth, not 20 clicks before getting to the
catalog or to the order page."
http://www.ecominfocenter.com/newsletter/issue7/issue7.html
5. Pick Of The Month
Echo Web: The Web Developer's Starting Point
Tutorials, Articles, Tools, Live Help, Templates, Awards and
more. Search Engine Submitter - Submit your web site to over
15 search engines using one simple form. Absolutely Free!
This site is very well coded, fast loading, easy to surf,
and very high in worthwhile content.
http://echodev.com/
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Thanks for reading another issue of WA Newsletter!