Web Design For The Home Based Business

New technology released in 2007 has made it easy for people to create their own websites and FTP upload entire pages from the tools in MS Office Suite 2007-Business Edition. However, now that it is easy to make a website without FrontPage or DreamWeaver, there are still some elements of web design that you need to remember before publishing your site. Tools Both MSWord and Publisher can be used to create websites. But, like FrontPage or Dreamweaver, the page will not appear the same on every browser. Anyone who wants to create their own webpage needs to download Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox. IE is the most popular browser in the USA. But, Firefox (Modzilla) is most popular in the world. All images should be chanced to .75 dpi. This is easy using Window’s Paint. There are several FTP publishers. These are software programs that lift your web pages off the computer and publish them on the Internet. This is the best way to load a website. Avoid the ‘easy’ tools. Here is a quick guideline to help work at home business owners build a website which can earn money. 1. It’s about the content. The only way to get listed today is to have good content, updated at least once every two weeks. Many new business owners build a website on a few dozen keywords. They believe this brings more traffic. Unfortunately, it works backward. Too many keywords confuse search engines, reducing the websites Page Rank. There are no keyword search engines anymore. Today’s search engines are more concerned with inbound links. Instead of writing articles that have a keyword repeated a few dozen times, write an insightful article that solves problems for your readers. The search engines not only know how many people click onto a web page, but they know how long they stay. Websites that keep readers for more than 30 seconds will rank higher. 2. Don’t sell. The web visitor is not walking into a store. They do not arrive at a website thinking, “I want to buy something.” Instead, most of them want to be entertained, or educated. The best way to sell from a website is to solve problems. This includes things like posting the cost of a product or service, and even problems and solutions. Avoid the long pages of testimonials. These are so ‘out of date.’ Instead, add a forum to the website and let the ‘real’ website visitors leave their comments. 3. Make effective use of the title and description tags. The only keywords most search engines care about are buried in the Heading Tags. Word will imbed Heading tags into a web page. Forget the Meta keywords. They rarely play an important part in today’s Search Engine Optimization. 4. Don’t design in Flash or use any other ‘cool tools.’ Many people do not have the tools needed to view these. If you must add a video, then upload it to www.youtube.com and paste the code onto your page. Search engines cannot see pictures. This means that a page full of pictures will only reduce a page rank, not increase it. Flash creates major problems with search engine indexing. There is no way for the search engines to extract content from the website as it is all contained with in the swf file. 5 .Instill a sense of well. One of the first things most web visitors will look for is proof that the business cares about them. They want something before they are sold. It is also important to have business contact information pricing, privacy information, shipping, problem solving FAQ, and even a personal blog from the ‘owner.’ These things will improve the success of any web based business, or work at home web site.

 

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10 Rules To Keep Your Website Visitors Engaged

Do you know that most visitors leave a website within 10 seconds of landing on the home page? And they may never return to the same site. To keep your website visitors stay longer, you need to engage them. Follow these 10 simple rules to build a set of core loyal visitors who will return to your site frequently. 1. If you have a brick-and-mortar business and you want an online presence, don't just hand over your printed brochure to the web developer for your site's contents. 2. Get good text, picture, and video contents related to your products or services and organize them into categories for your website publication. How do you get contents? You can ask your kids to write contents for you. Today's kids are information savvy and know how to do research on right topics. They can help take pictures and videos of your products and provide narrations. If you cannot leverage your kids talents and you don't have time to develop contents, buy them from online sources, like distributors of private level rights to articles and stock photographs. You need a small content set to launch your web site. 3. Ask your developer for some sample websites he has developed in the past and review them. If you find clutter, music, unprofessional graphics, etc. in those sites, run away from the developer. Tell your web developer to use basic search engine optimization techniques for your web site. Use a developer who uses content management systems (CMS) to develop websites. You or your kids and spouse will be able to maintain and add contents regularly to an CMS without much efforts. 4. You must have an About US page in your website that explains the expertise of your company and your unique selling proposition. Also, you should provide a phone number and an e-mail address for contact. 5. Publish a weekly tips section in your website. If you are in a business for a long time, you have a wealth of knowledge about your business, market, and technologies involved in your business. Make it a habit of jotting down one tip every day. You will have plenty of tips for your weekly publication. 6. Don't use guest books, testimonials etc. These are so Web 1.0 concepts. Use a forum. Let your customers interact among themselves. Develop a value network. You get into the insights of your customers' minds by reading their posts and your visitors know your products and services by talking to each other. As a result, you will be able to provide improved products and services and ask for a premium price. 7. Promptly answer all your visitor's e-mail. This is one thing you should never delay. Use your visitors comments, e-mail, and other form of communications to generate ideas for new articles and tips. 8. Tell your web developer to include an RSS feed on your site and publish a filtered news related to the market you serve and emerging technologies in that market. Don't use a weather report. Nobody comes to your site to check the weather. 9. Publish a frequently asked questions related to your products and services. It helps save your visitors' time and efforts when they are looking for information on a particular topic related to your website. 10. Did you know that the average person must be exposed to an offer around seven times before they will make a purchase? Make your website an advertising platform for your most popular items. Advertise them through out your site but don't use any 'in-your face advertising' techniques. You can use side bars for this type of advertising with interesting anecdotes, pictures, etc. Be creative and use your imagination. Your website is your publishing medium. It is not your online catalog. You want repeat visitors who spend their time at your site for valuable information. The possibility of visitors turning into a paying customers improves when they stick around your site longer.