Web Site Creating Tips

A Website is Essential, Especially if you're thinking of starting an Online Business. Website Creating Tips Having a website is a great thing, whether its for personal or business use. Here is a simple guide to creating an effective website that will keep your visitors coming back.

Last Updated - 28th September 2005

Tips

Choose a topic that you are familiar with. Also, make sure a it's a topic that you have an interest in. Make sure its broad enough to make a complete site on, but still within a niche.
Content is the most important, and first step of creating your website. You want to fill your site with as much substantial information as you can. Write articles on the topic, include a picture section if you're able to. If you run out of ideas, take a few free articles and add those to your website.
Make sure everything you have written is proofread before you publish it to the internet. The more professional it looks, the more likely visitors are to take it seriously.
Arrange all the content on your site in an easy to navigate manner. Divide content into similar sections. Each page should have a link to every other section in the site, and a link to the home page.
Make sure the text is large enough to read (but not too large that its over powering).
The design of your website is also extremely important. If it looks neat and professional, visitors will spend more time on it. If you are not able to design a webpage on your own, it is recommended that you hire a professional designer or use a free template.
Add color to your website. Never use black backgrounds, or any other dark colors, because they aren't inviting to visitors. White backgrounds are always practical, but they can also be boring. Don't be afraid to use interesting and eye catching color combinations.
On the other hand, make sure that your colors don't clash. The color of your text should be visible against the background.
Use images in the header of your webpage, and throughout the rest of the page if possible.
Divide the sections of your main page into tables, using lines and colors.
Add some sort of interactivity to your website, such as a poll, a guestbook or a tag board. Things like this keep visitors returning to your website.
Add a blog or updates to your main page, and be sure to update it at least tow or three times a week. This will give your visitors a reason to return more often.
Make sure your visitors have a way to keep in contact with you. Include your email someplace on the page.
Advertisement isn't always detracting from your page. Make sure it isn't overdone; there shouldn't be more than two ad units on each page. Make sure they blend in well with the rest of your layout. Stick to skyscrapers, standard banners, buttons and links.
Provide links to other, relevant websites on the web.
The first block of text on your main page should be a description of your website. This paragraph should include many keywords that describe your website. This is called spider food; search engines like Google will crawl your site with their spider, and the more keywords they pick up on your page, the higher and more relevant your placement will be. The first text on your page is especially crucial.
Optimize your metatags so your site is picked up correctly by the search engines, and indexed faster. Include as many keywords as possible. You can find information about that at http://addme.com.
Include the name of your site and a keyword rich description of your site in title section of the page (between < title > and ).
Domain names are the best way to go, but whatever your url is, make sure it includes keywords that are relevant to your site. Names like eBay.com are catchy, but if you don't have a corporate budget a url such as AuctionHero.com would be more effective. It is creative and memorable, and also includes a keyword.
Make sure to monitor your website daily. Keep track of the hits its getting, and if things aren't improving, do something different. You also want to watch your site to make sure all your pages are loading correctly, as well as all of your images. Downtime for any part of your site can result in a loss of a sale or regular visitor.
There are great programs that can make building a website easier. Try Front Page Pro or Dreamweaver for editing, and Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro for graphics