Ten Basic Steps For Building A Web Site That Works

1. Assemble a web site development plan that is integrated with your overall marketing processes; the content should be consistent with offline materials, the graphics/images don't have to be identical with traditional media, but should be consistent with your overall branding, style guide, usage of colors etc.

2. Hire a web site design firm that understands your market position and one that won't get "geek crazy" - meaning they are so in love with their own design capabilities, your site gets bogged down with graphics, plug ins, GIF garbage, etc. But, conversely, check your ego at the door when you work with your design firm - I've see so many good web site designs get ruined by clients who can't or won't listen to what we tell them!

3. Pay attention to "load times," how long it takes a web site to load on a 56 KBPS modem (this is an industry average), if its more than 12-18 seconds you may experience the "click of death" - the site doesn't load quickly and the surfer is gone. Of course, if your targeting broadband customers who are reaching your site via ISDN or DSL then you can build a site that incorporates multimedia-ready content that may include streaming audio or video, or Shockwave or Flash capabilities - go ahead and let those digital geeks get carried away with cutting edge content!

4. Dare I say it, "keep it simple" - make your site easy to move around in, build a menu structure that is consistent with industry standards, local menus (for a page or section) on the left and global menus (overall site navigation) at the top and/or bottom of each page, keep as much information "above the fold" (above the cutoff point at the bottom of a monitor), don't make people use horizontal scroll bars unless absolutely necessary.

5. Inculcate "digital speed" into your overall site design, your client/customers should be able to get to their desired area of your site within one or two mouse clicks; they will quickly get frustrated if they have to click-through multiple menus to find information they are seeking.

6. Develop content that is web-enabled, people don't read web site content like they do offline media, keep your paragraphs short no more than two to three sentences, build in white space with your content, include links in your pages - don't try to tell your whole marketing story on your site - get people to call you (hello the telephone still works!), e-mail or fill out a profile form (see below).

7. Make your site permission-based marketing ready - I love Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing" book, http://www.permission.com, and we recommend it to all of our clients - he champions building a long term relationship with a customer by asking their permission to continue to market to them and incorporating value/information in all marcom processes.

8. Ensure your site is optimized for Search Engines by identifying 8-12 keywords that people will use to find your site, then incorporate these keywords in your site content (to drive relevancy with s/engine spiders/bots) and then manually submit your site to the top ten search engines. We don't' recommend most of the free or $19.99 specials available; yes, all will get your registered with the s/engines, but getting listed on page 75 of 350 pages (for example) won't really drive qualified traffic to your site, you need page 1-3 listings on the top ten engines to really drive qualified traffic.

9. Delve into your log server files to uncover "digital tracks" made through your web site - your log files are raw files that show how and from where (in most cases) people accessed your web site, where they went on your web site, how long they stayed, etc. Web Trends is the defacto industry standard, http://www.webtrends.com/default.htm, but we use and recommend a market-experienced firm in Europe, Fantomaster, Ltd. to our clients http://www.fantomaster.com - they have a suite of Search Engine products that can be downloaded for free or purchased.

10. Think global in your overall site design - the greatest Internet growth is occurring outside North America, so it is essential to build a site that can be accessed easily by people around the world. What issues do you need to look at? Load times are very important (again), develop content that avoids colloquialisms that may not be understood by others who may not speak the same language, you may want to make your site content available in diverse languages, there are a number of emerging applications that will facilitate this process, ensure your e-commerce capabilities can be utilized by all.

About The Author

Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience - he is the founder of Intelective Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com, a results-driven marketing services company providing proprietary services to clients encompassing startups to public companies. Lee@intelective.com

Lee@intelective.com

---

The Psychology of Color in Web Design

Persons engaged in website design, here's a scoop for you!... Read More

Keep Your Navigation Highly Visible

Effective navigation stands out. It's clear, obvious, and highly visible.You'll... Read More

Build It And Build It Cheap! Part II

If you are familiar with my work, then you have... Read More

Web Design - 7 Key Things to Avoid

A search for "web design" on Google returns more than... Read More

Keep It Simple, Stupid: The Beauty of a Clean Cut Website

Don't knock it; "Keep It Simple, Stupid" is a great... Read More

Mini Site or Content-based Web Site?

Are you in a dilemma whether to create a mini... Read More

9 Ways to Gain Your Visitors Respect

The internet is filled with sites and they are good... Read More

How to Make Your Site Attractive to Potential Link Partners

Every now and then, I receive a link exchange request... Read More

How to Get Your Visitors to Create Content for Your Website

An ongoing challenge for webmasters today is to provide fresh... Read More

Increase Sales on Your Website! Use Graphics!

How many times have you clicked on a website only... Read More

One-Product Sales Sites: Avoid These Top Blunders

One product, one long web page: this kind of web... Read More

Sales Versus Customer Oriented Websites

Should Generating Revenue From A Website Be The Prime Motivator?... Read More

What Does Your Website Say About Your Business?

QUESTION: My business is very small, just me and... Read More

Attention Grabbing Web Design Will Kill Your Sale!

In the of-line marketing world it is all about trying... Read More

Cheap Website Design In Birmingham

Due to the large number of people offering website design... Read More

Design Your Site For Your Customers

The most important person that you need to please when... Read More

Web Copy - What You Should Know First

Just what is web copy? Some people think that web... Read More

Your Website Visitors - Will They Stay?

I'm sure you've all heard the saying 'Build it and... Read More

Web-Safe Fonts for Your Site

Choosing the right typeface for your website copy is important,... Read More

How To Design A Web Site

I'm not a professional web site designer and openly admit... Read More

Get Rid of Your Frames

A few years ago a lot of websites utilized frame... Read More

Explode Your Homepage And Replace It With Something Dynamite!

You know that I'm always extolling the virtues of an... Read More

Tapping Into The Visual Stimulus Of Your Web Site Visitors

"Oh, my eyes, my eyes! What an eye sore. Quick,... Read More

Questions to Ask When Designing a Website for Clients

Questions to ask when designing a Web Site for your... Read More

Sell Yourself First...Your Key To More Sales

Selling on the internet is a challenge. There is no... Read More

Online Advertising: 10 Tricky Secrets To Keep Visitors Glued To Your Website And Increase Sales

It is common sense.The more time people spend at your... Read More

Is Your Web Site Turning Visitors Away?

One of the biggest problems with Web sites is that... Read More

Lead Capture Pages Explode Your Direct Sales Business Online!

Are you building a direct sales or mlm business online?... Read More

The Secret To A Profitable Website

Whether you are planning on having a website built for... Read More

Website Sales: Discover 10 Mesmerizing Insider?s Tricks To Ignite Your Sales

Marketing is not an easy skill to acquire.It requires patience... Read More

12 Essential Web Site Design Tips

1. What's the purpose?The most fundamental thing to do before... Read More

Moving Things Around

How often, men, have you come home to find the... Read More

How To Shop for a Web Design Firm?

While few companies can boast as we do that our... Read More