Web site design is not rocket science but you have to avoid
certain fatal flaws or your site will never get off the
ground. You must also sidestep these common design mistakes
if you want your web site to reach its fullest potential.
In other words, there are certain vital elements of web
site design you must get right or it's game over before you
even get started. These are the design elements which every
successful site possesses, essential components every
webmaster must consider when designing a profitable site.
* The Right Keywords
Perhaps one of the most deadly design flaws has to do with
keywords. Many novice webmasters fail to target the right
keywords when designing their sites.
Keywords are the vital lifelines of any well designed web
site. Basically, keywords are the exact words or phrases
web users type into search engines to find what they're
looking for on the Internet.
You must get this right or it may spell disaster for your
site. You must target the right keywords and optimize your
site for them in all the search engines.
Most SEO experts suggest you have your main keyword phrase
in the domain name of your site. This domain name should be
directly related to the topic of your site. If you design a
site on gaming laptops, then these keywords should be in
your domain. All pages on your site should be related to
these main keywords.
But first you must make sure your keywords are good
searchable keywords, i.e. a large number of people must be
searching for these keywords each day in the search engines
in order to supply a steady stream of interested visitors
or potential customers to your site.
How Do You Find Good Keywords?
There are many free keyword suggestion tools that you can
use. All the major Pay-Per-Click programs such as Google
Adwords, Yahoo! Marketing (Overture) and MSN Adcenter have
keyword suggestion tools.
Many professional online marketers use keyword research
software like Keyword Elite but you can also use any free
online keyword suggestion tools to see how many searches
are made. This is a good site:
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
Check and find good keywords related to your site and
optimize your site for them. Don't pick the most
competitive keywords because first page placement in the
search engines will just be too hard to obtain especially
for a new site.
Instead pick long tail keyword phrases which have fever
searches but you will have a better chance of ranking high
for these phrases. These long tail keyword phrases also
have much better conversion rates than general (too broad)
keywords.
Make sure your targeted keywords are in the title of your
page and many experts suggest it should also be in the URL.
Simple yet effective design elements which will increase
your site's chances of success.
* Exterior Links On Your Homepage
Another common design flaw is placing exterior, external
links on your main homepage.
Most SEO experts suggest ALL your links on your homepage
should be internal links pointing to your own content
filled pages on your site. External links should be on a
separate 'links page'.
If you want to use affiliate links, create a separate page
for each affiliate product or program and link to this page
on your site. Place your affiliate ID link and moneymaker
on this content filled (reviews, how-to-use,
testimonials...) internal page, rather than on your
homepage.
To rank high, especially in Google, all your PageRank and
visitors should be funneled into your site and not out to
some external links. This is extremely important on your
homepage - so make sure all or most of your links are
internal links.
* Simple Effective Navigation
You must design your site with simple effective navigation
in mind. Visitors to your site must be able to access and
move around your site with ease. Your site should also be
fast loading even in this age of high-speed Internet for
surfers are the most impatient creatures on the planet!
As a common courtesy, if nothing else, make sure you place
a link back to your homepage on each and every page of your
site. Instead of just calling it 'home' or 'homepage';
include your domain name or major keywords in this link:
'gaming laptop home'.
Have links to all major areas or topics of your site on
each page. Make it easy for your visitors to find what
they're looking for on your site.
Include a sitemap which lists all the major pages/content
on your site. Make sure a link to your sitemap page is
listed on all your webpages, never leave your guests
stranded with nowhere to go.
These are just some of the most important design flaws
which can spell failure for your site. Avoid them at all
costs. So make sure you keep these design elements in mind
when you're designing your next site or correcting your
present one.
Creating a successful site will be much easier if you
overcome these simple, yet all too common, web site design
flaws. Give your site a fighting chance at success by
sidestepping these mistakes, after all, sites like rockets
are meant to soar.
----------------------------------------------------
The author is a full-time online marketer. For the latest
web marketing tools try: http://www.marketingtoolguide.com
Here's another good free resource by Marlon Sanders
entitled:
http://www.bizwaremagic.com/weblog/?p=29
Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if
this resource
box stays attached.
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