 A
Successful Web Site:
How
to Boost Your Chances of Having One
First Published: February 2003
Last Update: February 2003
Author: Robin Nobles http://www.academywebspecialists.com
and http://www.searchengineworkshops.com
New Web sites are springing up online by the millions. However, when
they don’t reach a level of success, the Web site owners assume that
they can’t make money off the Internet. Wrong!
The one thing that is important to know, however, is that you do have
to work to make money online. Just like having a regular offline business,
the online business needs to be taken care of, the Web site continually
updated, and the customers made to feel safe and secure when doing
business with you.
So, let’s devote this article to simple things you can do to have a
successful online business. Remember that books have been written on this
subject, so this article won’t be all inclusive by any means.
But, for the average Web site owner, it will give you simple steps to
take to turn your online business down the right path toward achieving
success.
Future of the Internet
In January of 2003, Roy H. Williams, who is widely known and respected
as the "Wizard of Ads," finally declared, "Now is the time
to get in." For years, Roy has been watching and predicting the
Internet's future. Back in 1996, he declared, "The Internet is a baby
born premature." He even predicted the great dot com crash that we’re
still recovering from.
So what does Roy have to say about the future of the Internet? Roy says
that the buying public has finally figured out how to use the Internet and
what it's good for: specifically, "information gathering and
features-based comparison-shopping."
What does Roy suggest for Web sites today?
1. Ignore heavy graphic sites and focus on providing information for
your visitors.
2. Build confidence by interacting with your Web visitors and
anticipating and answering their questions.
3. Don’t think "advertising" - think information
delivery.
4. Focus on Web site architecture (a simply designed site) and
exceptional writing.
5. Help your visitors find what they’re looking for within a few
minutes of landing on your site. If you make them hunt for information,
they’re gone.
For more information such as what was mentioned above, subscribe to
Michael Campbell’s newsletter. Michael is one of the most well-known
Internet marketers, and his newsletter is exceptional. http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com
For more information about Roy H. Williams and his advertising
philosophies, visit: http://www.newsbios.com/wizard_of_ads.htm
So, with Roy’s predictions in mind, let’s look at some ways to make
our Web sites stronger, more visible, and have a better chance at being
successful.
Purchase your own domain name
Having a professional image is very important on the Web, and it begins
with having your own domain name. Having your Web site located at AOL or
one of the free Web hosting companies takes away a level of
professionalism.
Let’s face it: purchasing a domain is cheap! Did you know that you
can purchase a domain name for $21.95 a YEAR?? That’s it! From there,
you’ll want to use a professional hosting company, which will provide an
address for your Web site. Combustion Hosting will be glad to take care of
purchasing your domain name for you, moving your "old" Web site
to their location, and hosting the site for you. Their rates to
"host" your domain begin at only $15.49 a month, which is an
excellent price. "Hosting" a domain simply means to provide an
address on the Web for your site. http://www.combustionhosting.com/moreinfo
Naming your domain
Before you rush off to purchase a domain, let’s talk for a minute
about naming your domain. Most businesses want to name their domain after
the name of their company, which is understandable. However, if you can
name your domain using keywords that people might be searching for when
looking for the products or services you provide, you’re giving your
site a small edge with the search engines.
For example, if the name of your company is Simply Southern, and if you
purchase the domain name simplysouthern.com, you’re not using any
keywords in that domain name, and someone seeing that domain name will
have no idea what your site is about.
So, why not purchase simply-southern-catering.com, which will give the
engines (and your visitors) a keyword phrase that describes your site:
catering.
Your e-mail address
When you set up your own domain name, be sure to use that domain name
in your e-mail address, such as:
Robin@searchengineworkshops.com
Again, this adds a level of professionalism to your business. In my
case, I have an e-mail address through my local ISP, which is how I access
the Internet. I use a nickname in that e-mail address. Therefore, rather
than use that e-mail address, it would be better for me to use the above
e-mail address that’s connected to my domain name and online business.
Professional image
When you have a Web site, you want to portray a professional image. You
want your visitors comfortable enough with your online business to
purchase whatever it is you're selling.
So, don’t let your 12-year old nephew design your Web site with
cutesy graphics of cartoon characters. Instead, have it designed by a
professional. To save money on Web design, you can always have the
designer create the main page of your site and maybe one or two interior
pages, and then develop a "template" for you. Templates are
"skeleton" Web pages containing just the basic design, and you
can then cut and paste the rest of your pages into the template and finish
up the site yourself, if you’re comfortable with working on your own
site.
If you have a software program that allows you to create and work on
Web pages (which is called an HTML editor), you may be able to find
templates for that program that will allow you to create your own site
with a professional look. FrontPage is an easy to use HTML editor that is
just like working with a word processing program. If you can use Word, you
can use FrontPage. At the URL below, you’ll find a huge assortment of
templates that were created just for FrontPage, which would make creating
your own site very easy. http://www.thetemplatestore.com/frontpagetemplates.asp
You can also read this article about FrontPage, which contains a link
to an online tutorial for learning how to use the program. http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/articles/FrontPage.html
Or, if you’d rather have someone else create your Web site for you,
look in your yellow pages and find someone locally. Or, try WebHostOne,
who will create Web sites for a very reasonable price. And,
their designer also knows how to create Web sites that are "search
engine friendly," which is a big consideration when looking for a Web
designer. http://www.webhostone.nu
Web site design
If at all possible, keep your Web site design very simple. Don’t use
frames, excessive graphics, database-generated pages, Flash home pages, or
lengthy JavaScript. Each of these design strategies can present problems
for you when you’re trying to get a good ranking with the search
engines, which is where you’ll probably get the majority of your
traffic.
So, if you hire a professional Web designer, make sure he or she knows
that you want the design kept simple.
Let’s face it - when YOU go to a Web site, you would much prefer a
simple Web site, wouldn’t you? You want to find what you’re looking
for quickly and easily. You don’t want to have to spend time trying to
find something. And, you don’t want to see a Flash movie that crashes
your computer or that keeps you from getting into the site where the real
content is. You want the CONTENT!
In fact, one study shows that Americans experience "search
rage" if they don’t find what they’re looking for within 12
minutes.
Keep that in mind when you’re designing your own site. Use simple,
clear navigation. Include a site map that has links to all of the pages in
your site. This site map is valuable to both your users and the search
engines.
Keep graphics to a minimum, and only use them when you want to point
the eye to a certain location.
When you use graphics, here’s something else to consider.
Let’s say that you are a real estate agent, and your home page is
covered with your awards, a picture of you, and maybe the logo of your
company. Do you think your visitors care about your awards or your
picture? No! They want to see pictures of the houses you’re selling!
They want to learn about the schools in that area or the crime rate. They
want to see a mortgage calculator. They want to see content! Put
yourselves into the shoes of your visitors, and think about what your
visitors want to see, not what YOU want to show them.
If you use a picture of a house on the main page of your site, use a
picture that has a happy, smiling family in front of the house, obviously
pleased with the new home that you’ve sold them. The visitors will
automatically put themselves into the picture with the happy family, and
they’ll be more receptive to becoming a potential home buyer. But, just
a picture of a home on the main page of your site doesn’t evoke those
emotions.
Or, if you sell toys, don’t just have pictures of the toys. Have
pictures of smiling children playing with the toys! Appeal to the emotions
of your Web site visitors.
Keep in mind another thing regarding graphics. The search engines can’t
"see" the graphics. So, if you have a page that is loaded with
graphics, there’s no way that the engines can know what the page is
about. Therefore, offer a paragraph or two of text above the images that
describes what the page is about. Give the engines something to index, and
your pages will have a better chance of visibility in the search engines.
Build valuable content
When people come online, they generally aren’t looking to buy
something. Instead, they are looking for information. Consider your own
Web site. What information can you provide that would help attract
visitors (and search engines) to your site?
Let’s say that you have a local store that sells TV’s. Could you
create content that would be beneficial and possibly provide cost savings
to your Web visitors? For example, are there any little tips you could
offer to extend the life of a TV? Or, could you write content that focuses
on the latest innovations in TV’s? What about a page that deals with the
history of television? The more content you build, the stronger you’re
making your Web site, and the better chance you have that the visitor will
return. Plus, as a huge bonus, the engines love a content-rich site, so
you’re boosting your chances at better search engine rankings.
Remember that you’re also "introducing" your online
business to these visitors. You’re creating name recognition and
credibility. So, when the visitors are in the market for a TV, won’t
they consider an online business that they can trust? Make it your goal to
be that online business!
More to come later
As you can see, we’ve just scratched the surface when it comes to
having a successful online business. In the next month or so, I'll cover
more tips, which I hope will help you turn your Web sites into true online
businesses that will make you some money.
In the meantime, you may want to take some training that will help
boost your chances at achieving online success. Here are a couple of
choices:
Search Engine Workshops offers on location workshops in search engine
marketing to both beginners and advanced folks. These workshops are held
in various locations across the globe. http://www.searchengineworkshops.com
The Academy of Web Specialists offers online courses in search engine
marketing, where you can take beginning or advanced classes online in the
comfort of your own home. http://www.onlinewebtraining.com/courses.html
About the Author
Robin Nobles, Director of Training, Academy of Web Specialists, (http://www.academywebspecialists.com)
has trained several thousand people in her online search engine marketing
courses (http://www.onlinewebtraining.com)
and is the content provider for GRSeo software (http://www.se-optimizer.com).
She also teaches 2-, 3-, and 5-day hands-on search engine marketing
workshops in locations across the globe with Search Engine Workshops (http://www.searchengineworkshops.com).
Copyright 2003 Robin Nobles. All rights reserved.
Links to other WebMaster resources and information:
Below are some Search Engine Optimization books you may find interesting:
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