Everyone wants their website to be the best of the best.  Many people try to achieve this through the use of bright colors and animated graphics.  The truth is, all of that is distracting – it doesn’t get you business.  A successful website that generates business is one that is easy to read and look at, and simple to use.  Here are some tips on how to make your website successful, instead of scaring away prospective customers with flashing lights and colors.

Have your home page tell the reader exactly what your company does, and do it right away.  Let them you know what services you offer, or what type of products you sell.  Don’t keep your reader guessing on whether you build websites or bath tubs.  Make your purpose clear, quickly.

As I mentioned in a previous post, no one wants to see a giant block of tiny print on their computer screen.  Use subheadings, bullet points, shorter paragraphs and larger-than-microscopic text to make your site easier to read.

Keep your pages short.  Don’t try and give a detailed description of each of your services or products on the same page.  Talk about clutter!  Try to keep each one on a separate page.  If you must have multiple services/products on one page, thus making the page lengthy, try using anchor links.  Simply make a bullet point list of your services or products at the top of the page, and link each to its respective description further down on the page.  When a reader clicks on an anchor link, the page will automatically scroll to the section they wish to read about.

Keep your audience in mind when choosing what you write.  For example, let’s say you have the word SEO on one of your pages.  Now, someone who works for an SEO company knows that it clearly stands for Search Engine Optimization.  An average Joe, on the other hand, may not have the slightest idea as to what it means (Stinky Electric Octopus? Salty Emergency Ocean?) If you do want to use the acronym SEO, try and explain somewhere on the page what it means.  You could even begin the sentence with “SEO, or Search Engine Optimization…”

Use the word YOU.  It makes the reader feel important when your site states that “We can help YOU fix YOUR leaky pipes with our miracle glue” rather than “We fix leaky pipes with glue.”  This personalized approach gives your reader the impression that you are speaking directly to them, and that you know you can solve their problem.  Guess whose business you will be getting?

Do you need a website or a facelift for your existing site?  Comstar can help! Visit us at www.comstar.biz for more information!