TOP 7 REASONS TO KEEP YOUR WEB PAGE SIMPLE

By Tom Falco (c) 2001

1) Fast downloads are important for keeping people at your site.
People will not wait long for pages to download. Even though there
are DSL and 56K modems, you would be surprised at the amount of
people still using old, slower computers. This is common in many
businesses, schools and organizations.

2) Just because you are a tech wiz doesn't mean your potential
customers are. Keep your site simple and to the point. All that java
script is nice, but if your customer can't see it or won't wait for
it to load, what is the point? If a tree falls in the forest and no
one is there to hear it does it make a sound?

If you have cool java and no one is able to see it is it cool java?

If you must have a big flashy home page, also place a link that
allows the reader to avoid the flash and go directly into the site.
Remember: most will bypass the flashy splash pages and just get into
the site. Unless you are MTV.com or Disney.com, etc. people don't
want to see a show before they enter your site. They are there for a
purpose and it isn't to see all that you learned in java school.

3) Frames are for photographs. Frames are not easily seen on many
older browsers and you are losing a large portion of your potential
customers by not allowing them to experience your site correctly.
Avoid frames if you want customers.

4) Keep the navigation buttons easily available and not confusing.
Don't have too many navigation buttons but do have the ones you use
easily accessible and readily available. Don't confuse people by
making them search the page for navigation. If people don't want to
read your whole home page all at once and they just want to get going
into the site, let them easily enter.

5) Lead them. It is important to lead people to where you would like
them to go. Don't make a page too confusing and if you actually want
them to go from Point A to Point B, state that! If you sell insurance
and you want people to compare rates right away, lead them to that
page. Tell them: "Compare Rates Now!" and make a link readily
available.

6) Have your contact information right there for people to see.
People feel more comfortable dealing with others who are easily
accessible or appear to be. By placing your phone number, fax number
and address where it is easily seen, your customers will feel ad
ease. Even though most won't contact you other than through email, it
is important to let them know you are there and you are real. Bricks
and mortar always put potential customers at ease.

7) Ask for the order. This is one of the most important things to
remember when marketing or selling something. Ask the customer for
the order. Make it clear how the person can order or get more
information and come right out and ask for the order. You'll be
surprised at how many people will follow your lead and place the
order just because you asked them to!
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Tom Falco is moderator of "American Pop Trivia Quiz" a bi-weeky fun
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