You've got this
great Web page, you have all the latest features of DHTML
and Frames, but no one is visiting it. How do you get them
to go there? Is there some secret?
Here are six easy ways to improve your page and make
people want to come view it
| 1. Find out who your audience is |
If you know your audience you will know what they want
to read about and what keeps their interest.
Ways to find out about your audience:
-
Request information
through surveys.
-
If you have
a bulletin board or chat, review what goes on there.
-
Keep current
with your email.
- Read general
surveys of on-line users (a good one is the GVU WWW
User Survey).
2. Keep it interesting
If you know what your readers want, but don't give it
to them, why would they keep coming to your site? If
your site has nothing at all, make sure that it has
compelling content. People will return to a site that
is interesting and useful even if it doesn't use the
latest tricks or features.
Ways to keep your site interesting:
-
Make your
site interactive, have surveys and contests to let your
readers feel a part of the site.
-
When people
suggest things, acknowledge that help live on the site.
-
Add additional
community features such as a bullettin board or chat
room.
-
Keep your
site up-to-date.
3. Put your site in the spotlight
If your site can't be found, no one will visit it. Make
sure that the name makes sense and that you use all
the tools available to maximize your search engine views.
Ways to get your site found by viewers:
-
Get a domain
name with your company name, or page information.
- Submit it to as many search engines as you can.
-
Use a submission
service, like Submit-It, if you can afford to.
-
Whenever
relevant, mention your site, in newsgroups, chatrooms,
email, over coffee with your friends, etc.
-
Have your
URL in your email signature.
4. Make sure your site loads quickly
A slow loading page is an instant turn off, and most
browsers won't stay, even if the page is worth the wait.
Keep this in mind and make your first few pages quick
and intense so that they are hooked and then will wait
for more.
Ways to improve the download speed:
-
Use fewer,
smaller images. My rule of thumb is no larger than 12K
per image.
-
Keep the
total page size down. I try to stay below 30K for a
total page.
-
Pre-load
images. If you make the size 1x1 the image appears as
microscopic dot on the page, and your readers won't
know it's loading (really).
-
Use the
lowsrc attribute. If you have a huge image, you can
take away the sting of the download by using lowsrc
to load a smaller image first.
5. Don't hide information
Important information on your site shouldn't be hidden.
Make sure that it can be easily found by your readers,
because most won't search for it.
Ways to bring information to the forefront:
Things to keep in mind when using email as a marketing
tool:
- Always be
polite. Even when provoked, stay cool and calm. Most
people forget that they are not talking to a computer,
but a real person.
-
Don't
spam. Unsolicited email is annoying and can get you
in more trouble than it helps.
-
Try to
be prompt in your replies, or if you cannot, explain
to your readers the delay.
Remember to include your URL in the reply.
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