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By Merle Stinnett of Merle's World
COMPONENTS OF A GREAT WEB SITE
So you've finally decided it's time to create your
own Web Site. After all, your friends and business
associates have one and you don't want to be left
behind on the Information Super
Highway.
Great Web Sites all have a few common elements
about them,and that's what I'll be discussing
here. It's usually a good idea to plan the site
out on paper before even touching your PC.
It can be difficult to come up with content
staring at a blank computer screen, so get out an
old fashioned pen and paper and let those creative
juices flow. You want to be sure to include all
there is to know about your products and/or
services.
Once you decide on the main topics you'll be using
it's time to plan out the navigation. You need to
make it simple and easy for visitors to find their
way around your site, otherwise they'll get
frustrated and leave. Keep the navigation
consistent on all pages so your guests don't have
to re-learn the menus from page to page. Graphic
links are usually more effective than plain text,
but make sure you use something readable and easy
on the eyes.
Make sure the color of the hyperlinks coordinate
with the rest of your site. You should include
your contact information at the bottom of every
page, at the very least an email. address.
Businesses should include phone,fax, and company
name as well. Not everyone enters a site through
the front door and if you fail to include this
information, they won't know where they are or how
to get in touch with you with comments and/or
suggestions. If you surf the Net for any length of
time, you'll be amazed at just how many sites fail
to include this vital information.
Including a FeedBack form is a good way to add
some interactivity and makes it easy for people to
ask questions without having to pick up the phone.
Graphics make a site visually appealing but, if
you use the wrong ones it can leave a bad
impression. Make sure to use an unbusy background
so the text can be read easily. Surfers are an
impatient bunch so make sure the graphics are
compressed as much as possible so they download
quickly. There are many online utilities that will
perform this service for Free. One is located at
http://www.webutilities.com/services/index.htm
This Free compression service offers support for
Gif, JPG,and PNG. You should save simple graphics
in a 16 color format rather than 256.
If your site is large you might want to include a
search mechanism to help visitors find what they
are looking for.The more information you include
the harder it gets for visitors to find exactly
what they want. A search form makes this simple.
HTML editors like MS Front Page makes it easy to
insert search tools into your site and
automatically update itself when new pages are
added.
Having a Web Site means making constant updates.
People want to that the information they are
reading is fresh and new. That being said you
should include the last date the
page was updated on all of the pages in your site.
This lets the public know when changes were last
made or you can include a "what's new" page that is
specifically used for this purpose.
Adding a page of related links is another great
idea. You can contact other site owners and ask to
exchange links or just add other sites that you
like that compliment yours. By asking to exchange
links you help generate traffic for each other's
sites. The best sites on the Net usually offer
links to related Web Sites where more information
can be found on the same topic. If you can write
up a brief description next to each link all the
better. If you do include a link page check it
from time to time to get rid of any dead links.
It's very annoying to click on a link and get an
error.
If you take all of these tips and implement them
on your Web Site, you'll have an interesting,
well-designed site that people will want to return
to again and again. Anyone can get on the
Information Super Highway, it's up to you what
kind of car you want to be seen in.
Visit Merle's World
Freebies for Webmasters
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