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Tips and Ideas

Make your page easy to scan. Use headers to break up your text into digestible chunks. This way if a visitor scans your page, he can grasp a quick sense of what your site is about.

Crisp organization coupled with clear navigation generally produces sites that keep visitors longer !

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort."
-- John Ruskin (1819-1900)

If you want more sales from your website do not annoy your visitors with pointless animated graphics or other large unnecessary images. Your visitors are interested in your products and services. Make it easy and fast for them to find what they want.

High-tech gimmicks (i.e., plug-ins and lots of Java special effects) do not necessarily make a great site !

You will lose visitors if your site has broken links, missing graphics, or scripts that don't run correctly. Check your site with all the popular browsers.

"I would say simplicity is a key factor in any good game design. Simplicity in interface, game systems, etc. Simplicity does not have to mean few possibilities (just look at chess), but creating a real good, well balanced, simple game system is a much harder task than creating a very complex one."
-- Interview with Thorolfur Beck, RPG Vault, August 01, 2000

The biggest mistake is creating a Web site NOT focused on a good customer experience. Some designs exist to make the CEO happy, and others focus on making the designer look good. Only those designs that serve the customer will win.

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."
-- Steve Jobs, The New York Times, 2003

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 Remove anything outdated !

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Don't put a revolving door at the top of your page ! Page tops are 'prime real estate' and should be used to promote your company, products and your services. Unless an external link works for you, it should be positioned low on your page.

Only add graphics that enhance and support your copy ! Most logos, banners, and gizmos distract readers from the most important element on your site - your sales message.

Something for nothing CAN be worth plenty ! Boost your web traffic by offering and promoting FREE stuff on your website. Give free reports, help, info, cool resources, etc.

Improve your company's image by developing your own USP - Unique Selling Proposition !

Internet marketing is more than listings on search engines. It should include on/off net advertising, promotion, ezine articles, press releases, banners, newsletters and more. It's getting people to know who and what, and where you are.

"If your website isn't working, then fix it or get rid of it, but don't just leave it up there and ignore it. Every day, real people with real tasks come to your website. If your website wastes their time then you risk damaging the reputation of your organization." -- Gerry McGovern

If your site requires visitors to give any personal information, such as email addresses or credit card details etc, you must provide an easily accessible Privacy Policy stating exactly what such collected data is used for.

In order to communicate effectively, use easy to understand words and phrases.

Be sure to have a link to your guarantee from product information pages as well as from ordering pages. This will help build trust in your potential customers.

The most important factor in any monetary transaction is trust, this is especially important in Internet selling since you do not have that personal contact.

Testimonials help prove that your product has been used successfully.

"Conversion rate reflects the effectiveness of your ability to persuade visitors to take action, and customer satisfaction. The only way to achieve your goals is if your visitors first achieve theirs." -- Bryan Eisenberg, ClickZ Network

A well designed, professional looking web site can be the equalizer that lets your small company compete with larger companies in your space.

Put your contact information (email, mailing address, phone number) somewhere findable on every page. This helps establish credibility, and lets your visitor know you're a real person.

"Rather than just talking to consumers, they could talk with consumers."
-- Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine

Want to look your best tomorrow ? Improve your site today !

Visit LucDesk ! Personal (web)log focusing on web design, user experience, creative use of technology, and other topics of interest, including security, digital art, photography, illustration, and more.

Secret Benefits of Search Engine Optimisation: Increased Usability SitePoint
"A higher search ranking is the dream of many Website owners. What they don't realise is that, if done correctly, the optimisation of their site for the search engines can also see it optimised for site visitors."

The Elements of User Experience Jesse James Garrett, via Amazon.com
"Garret's book draws the big picture of web user experience design, systematically covering all established professions and recognized methods involved in the process from strategy to visual design." (Henrik Olsen)

User and Task Analysis for Interface Design Hackos & Redish, via Amazon.com
"Task analysis is an important aspect of user interface design, insuring that the end product is usable and practical. Written by task analysis experts, this book is the first book that provides full-length coverage of task analysis. It covers in detail every step of the task analysis process, and discusses the methodologies behind it."

Improving Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation Floyd J., Jr Fowler
"Helps researchers design better surveys, and survey users interpret the data more critically, by showing how to word and format a survey question, write questions that will evoke the kind of answers for which they were designed, and evaluate questions empirically." (via Amazon.com)

Designing Visual Interfaces Kevin Mullet, Darrell San, via Amazon.com
"The authors ilustrate their points about grids, layout, typography, and color by showing examples of top notch efforts by some of the best information designers in the world."

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