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Is Your Website
A Turn-Off?
by Cheryl Williams Levey
Copyright (c) 2003 Cheryl Williams Levey. All Rights Reserved.
Have you ever visited
a website that was so poorly written that you actually felt sorry for
whoever it belonged to? Have you ever refused to do business with a particular
company because their website had so many errors on it that you were afraid
to buy anything from them? After all, if they can't even present themselves
professionally, how can they possibly offer a product of value? Right?
Unfortunately for
those companies, that's not always right, but it is what happens, and
they lose at least one sale, and potentially thousands. One person can
recommend positively -- or negatively -- to others, after all.
Is your website content
sloppy? If so, fix it as soon as possible, because otherwise I can guarantee
that you are losing business. If you don't know how to fix it, ask someone
for help, even if you have to pay them.
Here are just a few
tips:
For the words:
- Keep it simple.
Don't try to write a novel, or use huge words that the average person
generally won't know.
- Use bulleted items
instead of long paragraphs.
- Use a conversational
style, as though you are talking directly to someone.
- Group information
appropriately on separate pages of your site to avoid confusion.
- Describe or explain
everything clearly and completely.
- Ask for feedback
from your visitors and then act on it when you get it.
- Proofread, proofread,
proofread, and then ask other people to proofread too! AND, immediately
correct the mistakes that are found!
For the look:
- Make sure the
colors you use are pleasing -- fire engine red with green letters
is painful!
- Keep the look
of it simple and stick with standard conventions, e.g., having every
page of your site look the same (same colors and layout), providing
navigation buttons on every page, etc.
- Minimize the use
of images and bells and whistles (like Flash) -- too flashy means
too long to load, and people click away.
- Especially minimize
the use of animated images -- too much movement on the page distracts
from the content and causes confusion.
Make sure your website
is clean and professional and your business can boom!
______________________________
Cheryl Williams Levey is a writer/designer living in beautiful
Arizona. She writes and creates on a variety of topics,
some serious and some fun. Check out her writing
and designs at http://www.cherylsweb.com.
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