Speedy Pages

One surefire way to lose a viewer is to have pages that load slowly. There is nothing more frustrating than clicking a tab on a website and having to wait several minutes for it to load. More likely than not a viewer won’t wait and you will lose them forever. The thing about viewers is that they don’t appreciate quick loading pages until they have to deal with a slow one. Don’t make the mistake of devaluing your great content with slow loading pages. Keep your pages quick and your viewers will be happy

Keep Page Content Short

When viewing websites viewers will often just skim content, especially if it is long and drawn out. In order to get viewers to actually read your content, keep it short. Include only information that is factual and necessary. Clear and concise content will get viewers to read your work.

Navigability

Having a site that is easy to navigate is very important. Make sure your information is clear and your tabs are labeled well. This way viewers can see your site information and click the respective item to find exactly what they are looking for. Many sites make the mistake of being poorly labeled, this makes information hard to find. If viewers can’t find the information they are looking for, they will most likely leave your site for one that has what they need. Make sure all of your major information is easy to find and accessible, this will make for happy viewers.

Use Small Images

When designing a website, big images may look great but in reality they can be more trouble than they are worth. For starters, they can be overwhelming to viewers. A viewer is more likely to pay attention to the huge image than any other content on the page. This decreases the chances of viewers reading your content or seeing other things on your site. Additionally, big images take longer to load and can ultimately make your pages slower. Small concise images are an effective way to make your point without taking away from the rest of the site.

Colors

It is important to remember that your website can be seen nearly anywhere in the world. Colors mean different things to different people, countries, and religions. Therefore, it is important to do your best to choose neutral colors. This way you make all of your viewers happy. Additionally, it is important to use flattering color schemes. Don’t try to force colors together just because you like them. Use colors that actually look good together. This gives your site a professional look and feel.

Write for the World

As mentioned in tip #5 websites are international sources of information. Therefore, it is wise to write with a broad audience in mind. Make sure things like measurements, currency, times, and dates can be understood by all readers. This way you may gain more followers than you ever dreamed of.

Spelling, Grammar, and Facts

One way to lose credibility and viewers’ respect is by having poor spelling, grammar, and facts on your website. Poor spelling and grammar gives off an unprofessional vibe and seemingly a lack of education. No one is going to entrust you with their needs if you can’t even spell. Additionally, publishing incorrect facts makes your website seem foolish. The web is an endless source of knowledge, viewers can easily fact check. Therefore make sure everything on your website is correct.

Contact Information

Finally, be sure to include your contact information on your website. This seems obvious, but many sites don’t include contact info or they have it in a poor location. Be sure that your contact information is easy to find and up to date. If someone is interested they will want to contact you, don’t leave them searching for your information or with outdated info.

There are so many ways to improve your site and make it more viewer friendly. These quick tips will have your site looking better and giving off a more appealing vibe. Don’t let simple mistakes lose viewers; small changes can make all the difference.

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It is important to be direct when writing web content because most viewers only scan anyway. You want all the information to be there but you want it to be precise. Thousand word sections simply won’t work, viewers won’t take the time to read them and they will likely leave your site. Just write something quick that will tell them what they need to know and nothing more.

Overall, if you want viewers to give your content a chance save the fluff for another day and be specific. Provide only necessary information so that they can easily find what they need. Anything more is overdone!

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Take the Time to Visit Industrial Parks

01Visit the industrial parks in your area; this could be a place of untapped potential. Many industrial parks are full of small and new businesses. These places may not yet have websites or they may be in need of new ones. New business owners tend to be very passionate and excited about their new endeavor, making them the perfect potential client.

Join Your Local Small Business Association

02Small business associations provide you with the opportunity to connect with other small business owners on a personal level. Once you make this connection you may find that many of them are in need of websites.

Local Restaurants

03Local restaurants in your area are a great place to advertise. Many small, family owned restaurants have not ventured onto the web yet. By stepping in and giving them your information, you may be able to convince them to choose you as their  designer.

Local Tradesmen

04Make connections with the local tradesmen in your town. Many construction workers, plumbers, painters, electricians etc. run their businesses without websites. It’s possible that they would like to take their business to the web but are unsure of how to go about it.

Hang Flyers and Posters Locally

05Flyers and posters may seem like a very old school way of advertising, but they can still be highly effective. Hang posters and flyers around your area to spread your name and keep it fresh in people’s minds.

Conclusion

Although the web is a highly effective advertising tool, it is not the only way to market your business. Look around you, there are so many potential marketing opportunities right in front of you.

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When it comes to Facebook and Twitter and which you should use, it all has to do with what you are looking for in your experience. Facebook tends to serve as a means for connecting with friends, family, and re-connecting with people you haven’t seen in years. Facebook has helped countless people find old friends, long lost family members, high school sweethearts, and more. It is a place to make personal connections with your respective Facebook friends. You can chat, video chat, share pictures/videos, post statuses, play games, and more. It is a means to connect personally.

Twitter on the other hand, is a means to connect, but not in the same way. Twitter allows users to tweet about their thoughts, opinions, and daily lives. It is less of a personal connection with followers, but more of a general sharing of tweets. Twitter users can still post pictures, but people rarely use it to share albums, unlike Facebook. It also doesn’t have any chat or video chat options, placing more emphasis on a general connection. Possibly the biggest difference between Facebook and Twitter is that Twitter places a large emphasis on celebrity connection. Many TV shows, movies, and celebrities have twitters that anyone can follow and they keep their followers posted on their day to day activity. Celebrities utilize Twitter much more than Facebook because it is a quick and easy way to share. In turn followers can keep tabs on their favorite celebrities and even tweet at them. Your favorite celebrity re-tweeting something you tweeted at them is often very exciting!

Overall, when using social media it is all about what you are looking to gain from the experience. If you want to keep close connections with family and friends, Facebook is the place for that! However, if you’re looking to speak to general audiences, connect with celebrities, and be less personal Twitter is for you! If you want a little bit of both, have an account for both. The best way to see what each is about is to try it.

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When targeting teens and young adults it is important to remember that the internet is very much their domain. They know the difference between a good site and a mediocre site. They also know that if they aren’t getting what they want from one website, there are thousands of others that will do the trick. Therefore, the first thing to remember when building your site is speed. Yes, speed. Make sure your website loads quickly and efficiently. Kids today give a website about five seconds to make an impression; they are used to instant satisfaction. No matter how great your site is, if it’s too slow, they won’t wait. Building off of this, keep your webpages simple. Don’t overload them with graphics and video. This way they will load easily and keep the attention span of your audience.

In addition to loading quickly, be sure that you website includes more than just a phone number for contact information. If your contact information is just a phone number, you will receive less contacts because the under 25 crowd would rather e-mail than call. It is important to have some type of e-mail or instant messaging system in which they can ask questions and get in contact with you. They prefer to use these forms of communication over the phone. You also must be sure that your response time is quick. If you’re using e-mail get back to them ASAP because this is what they expect. Instant messaging would be ideal if you can manage it. If not, just be sure to answer e-mails in a timely fashion or you could possibly lose these customers.

Your actual web content is something to consider as well. When you are writing web content for this target audience keep it short and to the point in order to hold their attention. They will not enjoy long winded content and likely won’t even read it. Simply provide the information they came for, anything extra is too much. They will appreciate this and it will positively affect you.

Finally, take full advantage of social media. It is guaranteed that most of your users will be avid social media users. Create social media accounts for your business with twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pintrest etc. Have direct links to your social media outlets on your page as well. This way users can easily connect with you through your website. Also, this is a really easy way to keep in touch with your customers. They will not check your website very much, but they will check their social media accounts every day. If you update your social media accounts daily, you will keep your customers informed and be constantly connected with them on a much stronger level.

In closing, it is important to consider the changes that separate the current 25 and under group from others before them. By learning about what they want and expect from their online experience, you can gain more users and hold on to the ones you already have.

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Talented Writer

First and most obviously, you should make sure this person is a talented writer. That is the whole point, right? Get them to show you a portfolio or write something for you on the spot. If you aren’t impressed with what you see or if you have doubts, this person is not the best for the job. Be sure to find a writer whose work speaks for itself and whose talent is undeniable. This way your site will have great content, ultimately resulting in happy viewers.

Ability to Incorporate Keywords

You want to find someone who can incorporate keywords into the website’s content smoothly. This is crucial to SEO. However, you want this person to be able to incorporate keywords as casually as possible. You don’t want the writing to be forced or overdone, but very natural. The last thing you need is awkwardly worded content, be sure to find someone who can incorporate keywords without over doing it.

Informational or Advertising Copy?

One big thing to think about when finding a copywriter is whether you want your copy to be informational (technical) or more on the advertising side. If you are thinking informational, it is in your best interest to hire someone who is both a writer and an expert in the field. It would be a mistake to hire a copywriter who is talented, but knows nothing about the field. Try to find someone who is both. If you prefer that your content is more promotional there is a lot more leeway when hiring a copywriter. In this case any talented creative writer can do the job. Find a talented writer who takes direction well, this person will likely do a great job on your site.

Brief but Effective Writing

Brevity is a virtue when it comes to copywriting. Find someone who can say a lot with limited words. Website viewers prefer content that is short, but informative. If you can find someone who can do this and do it well, you have the key to success!

Ability to Prioritize

It is important to find a writer who can prioritize the information they are given to write about. They must be able to sift through and find the most important facts. They won’t always have space to say everything they want, so they need to be able to choose the most important information and leave out the less important stuff. This is so important because being able to prioritize is a huge part of being a copywriter.

Conclusion

If you consider the following when hiring a copywriter you will be on your way to having a site full of great content!

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You may think viewers would appreciate it if you had a ton of content with a lot of information. In reality web viewers rarely read content thoroughly. More often than not viewers will quickly scan your content for the specific information they need and then move along. They don’t want to read paragraph after paragraph, they want to easily find what they need.

The best way to go about writing effective web content is to keep things short and concise. Get to the point and don’t beat around it. Don’t provide extra, unnecessary information. Additionally, create headings that guide the viewer. Headings will allow viewers to scan to the sections that apply to them, get the information they need, and be on their way. This is extremely convenient and your viewers will surely appreciate it.

In closing, don’t make the mistake of drowning your viewers in content. They will appreciate precise content that provides them with what they need. This will make for happy viewers that will surely return!

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Not so fast. Look closely, and you will discover that your low-cost website is very pricey. While it may have saved you cash out of your pocket, it comes instead at the cost of your brand, potential customers, leads, and sales.

Amateur designers bet you’re not tech savvy enough to look under the hood or inspect the engine of your website. They assume your lack of technical expertise and the low cost will leave you satisfied with just a nice-looking site. However, buying an amateur-built website is akin to buying a car that has a fresh coat of paint but is missing its engine and other essential parts. In other words, your website may look good, but it will lack the necessary internal parts needed to perform well and drive business.

What are these necessary internal parts? Amateur website designers seldom understand or use valid and accurate code. Search engines do not read human language; they read code. Essentially, valid code is the mother tongue of the Internet, and it is essential to the overall functionality of your website. It is important that search engines are able to read and understand your website’s language for indexing, ranking, and other purposes. Also, using the right language ensures a site will translate well across various web browsers and through different platforms, including iPads and iPhones. Consequently, a website can have a great design and amazing content but not get the recognition it deserves.

Along with making sure everything runs smoothly under the hood, a professional website designer—especially one with marketing experience—will deliver a higher quality website on all levels, including overall design layout, graphics, interface, navigation tools, content, load times, and conversion opportunities. Other key internal components that professional website designers understand and use include keyword placement, title tags, meta tags, heading tags, alt attributes on images, title attributes on links, and XML sitemaps.

Choosing between an amateur and a professional website is like choosing between a Honda Civic without an engine and a Jaguar XKR-S with a shiny straight-six. Which do you want to represent your business and serve your short- and long-term interests?

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Navigability

Make sure that your page is easy to navigate. Don’t leave users confused by your site and unable to find what they need. Make your navigation system obvious and clear. If it isn’t they will likely go elsewhere to find what they need.
Easily Scanned Content

Write content that is easy to scan

Users don’t want to scroll through thousands of words to find the information they need. They want content that is brief and to the point. Make it easy for them by having bold headings and straightforward writing. Fancy wording and analogies are great, but not for web content. Keep it brief and you will keep your users.

Readable Font

Sometimes web designers make the mistake of using a font that is too small or that is the wrong color. Stick to a minimum of a 12 point font and go bigger if you can. Also be sure to use dark colors for text such as navy blue, black, charcoal etc. You never know when you will have a visually impaired viewer and you don’t want to lose them due to poor font quality.

Easy to Find Information

Make sure the necessary information on your page is easy to find. Use tabs and a search box so that users can easily find whatever they are looking for. If you make finding information too hard, you will lose viewers.

Neutral Color Schemes

Keep you color schemes neutral. Don’t go over the top with colors and make sure your colors flow naturally. There is nothing worse than going to a web page that is some horrendous combination of neon colors. Not only is a poor color scheme unattractive, but it can also make things hard to see. Be sure to use simple colors to get your point across.

Conclusion

It is easy to make a user friendly site. Just give the users what they expect and they will keep coming back!

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01 You must make sure the message you are trying to convey is obvious within seconds of a viewer glancing at your homepage. If it isn’t you need to fix that. Your viewers will likely look to another site if they are having mixed feelings about your message

Content That is Easy to Scan

02 It has been proven that website viewers are highly unlikely to read your content thoroughly. Therefore, it is important that your content is easy to scan. Make sure your most important information has bold headings, making messages very clear and readable.

No Small Fonts

03 So many websites try to pull off writing with tiny fonts, but this is something to avoid. Tiny fonts are often just too small and many viewers will get annoyed. Make all fonts a readable size.

Don’t Use Music

04 Avoid using background music on your website. This was a brief trend that proved to be more annoying than anything else. If you feel you must use audio files, make them optional. Make it so that viewers can play them if they want to, but don’t force them to listen to anything while viewing your site.

Don’t use crazy colors

05 Using wild colors may seem cool during creation, but looking at a mass of brightly colored fonts and backgrounds is just painful for you viewers. Keep your font colors and backgrounds neutral. Get several opinions about how they look and make sure they aren’t overwhelming.

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