TUNE UP YOUR WEB SITE! (Part 2 of 2)
By Mark Idzik
Last week I gave you some ideas on how to take a critical look
at your web site functionality, and specifically about:
- Overall Site Look
- Content
- Communicate with Visitors
- New Technology
Now, let's talk about your other web site areas that are
crucial to review:
Customer/Visitor Retention
How do you keep your customers and visitors coming back to
your site?
Chances are, if you don't update your site often and don't
communicate with your visitors, they won't come back. Would
you? One idea is to offer weekly email specials or industry
updates. Also, make it easy for your visitors to add their
email address to your mailing list. Add a form or link to
every page on your site. Most importantly, update your site
weekly and let your visitors know what's new.
Resources for maintaining and sending email lists -
Graphics
Nice looking graphics make your site look professional - just
like decorations in a store make it a more pleasant shopping
experience. But graphics can also be your biggest enemy. Large,
bloated images can slow down your site, increase your
bandwidth charges and turn away visitors.
Make your images clean and small. Limit animation to 2-3
"frames" using the basic four colors - red, green, blue &
yellow.
Resources for keeping your images small:
- Site Survey - free survey of your site speed/graphics/links
Testimonials
Prominently display positive comments from your customers
and visitors. This instills more confidence in your company
and makes your prospects more comfortable doing business with
you.
Speed
Graphics take up most of your download time, but so do fancy
scripts, java, as well as your web hosting company's
connectivity.
Run tests using different ISP's or ask for feedback from
clients through the US. Your site may run fast from your
connection, but that client in Asia may be taking a lunch
break waiting for your site to download.
To keep your site running smoothly, try to keep your pages
to 20-40k in size. Break up pages that exceed that amount.
More pages give you better exposure to search engine robots,
anyway.
Spelling/Broken Links/Images
This is obvious, but make sure all your links are reachable,
images are loading and spell check every page twice.
Resources for monitoring your site/links: SiteSurvey - free survey of your site speed/graphics/links and NetMechanic - check broken links
Bottom line - keep your site lean, clean and full of updated,
interesting information. Communicate with your clients/visitors
and make it easy for them to communicate with you. Whether you
do it yourself, or hire a professional, these areas are crucial
to winning on the web.
Tune Up Your Web Site - Part 1
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