Making your website attractive, interesting and engaging

Introduction
To succeed at your online business (whether you are sellingyour own product/service or are selling for other merchantsas an affiliate), you need a Web site created just for that- a simple, focused site. One that is easy to build,maintenance-free, low cost, credible, and a powerfultraffic-builder and customer-converter.
Having the right tool and the right product alone doesn’tinsure the success of your website. There are many factorsto be considered while designing a site. Unfortunately, mostof these are easily ignored by Internet business owners.

Build It for Speed
It's a fact of modern life - people are in a hurry. Thismeans that you have between 10 and 30 seconds to captureyour potential customer's attention. Tominimize your loadtime, keep graphics small. Compress them where possible. Useflashy technology (JavaScript, Flash, Streaming Audio/Video,animation) sparingly and only if it is important to yourpresentation.

Target your Market
Know who your market is and make certain that your sitecaters to their needs. It is critical that your site reflectthe values of your potential customers. Is your marketmostly business professionals? If so, the site must be cleanand professional. Is your product aimed mostly a teenagersand young adults? Then your site could be more informal andrelaxed. The key here is to know your market and build thesite to their preferences.

Focus the Site
Make certain your web site is focused on the goal, sellingyour product or service. A site offering many unrelatedproducts is not necessarily unfocused, but this is often thecase. If your business does offer many products, dedicate aunique page for each instead of trying to sell them all fromone page.

Credibility Is Crucial
The most professionally designed site won't sell if yourcustomers don't believe in you. A clear privacy statementis one way to build your credibility. Provide a prominentlink to your privacy statement from every page on the siteas well as from any location that you are asking yourvisitors for personal information. Provide legitimatecontact information on line.

Navigation should be Simple
Make site navigation easy and intuitive. Simple and smoothnavigation adds to the convenience of the visitors. Addpowerful search and catalog features. Many times a lot ofvisitors do not have the patience to navigate through thewhole website to find what they are looking for.

Consistency is the key
Make sure the site is consistent in look, feel and design.Nothing is more jarring and disturbing to a customer thanfeeling as if they have just gone to another site. Keepcolors and themes constant throughout the site.

Make your site interactive and personalized
Make your website interactive. Add feedback forms as wellas email forms that allow your prospective customers to askyou any questions they might have pertaining to a product.Personalization of your website is another key element thatcan lead to customer delight and can increase your sales.Personalization technology provides you the analytic toolsto facilitate cross-selling and up-selling when the customeris buying online. It would give you an idea of what productsto cross-sell and up-sell. For example, when a person buys aCD player, a disc cleaner can also be offered.

Content is King
Good content sells a product. Ask yourself the followingquestions. Does your copy convey the message you wish to getacross to your visitors? Is it compelling? Does it lead yourvisitor through the sales process? Have others review,critique and edit your copy to insure it is delivering theintended message. Always double check your spelling andgrammar.

These eight, simple rules will go a long way toward theimprovement of your website and most importantly, turnvisitors into customers.