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First Impressions
by Bob Osgoodby
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First impressions are extremely important if you hope to do
business on the Web. After you refine your ads, and if you
make your pitch to a targeted group, you will start to get
visitors to your web site. Here is where many would be
entrepreneurs drop the ball.
Putting up a web site is not a difficult task, but
designing a good one is, and if you don't pay attention, it
might be working against you. Think about it, the web site
is not only the first impression of you and your business,
it is crucial to your success or failure.
People don't waste a whole lot of time when visiting a
site. If it isn't professional looking, they may just
"click away". While looks are important, you must spend
time on developing good copy. Copy written by affiliate
programs has been seen over and over, and while it may have
been effective at one time, it is so overused that people
immediately recognize it for what it is.
In addition to good copy, which of course has no spelling,
grammar or punctuation errors, it has to clearly state what
you are offering. Many web sites offer a real challenge to
try to figure out what they are trying to sell. The offer
should be the first thing they see. The information must
also flow logically, and not leave a lot of questions
unanswered.
In addition to complete information on your offer, it must
have a call to action, which entices the visitor to
purchase from you. It must also have an order form, or
instructions that are easy to follow. It is also a real
plus to let the prospect know a little bit about you. Your
picture on the site can go a long way to help instill
confidence.
There is some confusion on the value of links. Some
advocate that a good web site should be divided into
separate sections connected by links. Others feel that a
single long web page will score higher in the search engine
rankings.
There are basically two types of links. One goes to a
completely separate web page, and is considered an external
link. Another type is referred to as an internal link.
These point to different "parts" within the same web page.
Both have value, however internal links are a little
friendlier. If someone clicks on one and the next "part"
logically flows from the previous one, people will be more
inclined to read on.
While it is a good idea to have your links on the side of
the page, you should avoid the use of frames, which divides
the page into two logical pieces that can be independently
manipulated. At the current time, sites constructed with
frames are not search engine friendly, although this could
change.
Links should be clear as to where they will take you. It is
crucial that the titles of the links, not only make sense,
but actually take someone to that information. Each site
should have links that are unique, and it is not a good
idea to have information in the target, that is not
specified in the link.
If you have someone design the site for you, remember that
their expertise is in web site design, and most likely they
will know little, if anything, about what you are doing.
They can construct the site and make it look good, but the
copy and information flow is your responsibility. You
should always take a break from the copy writing, and if at
all possible, have someone else proof your work for
grammar. Also you have to be careful of words that pass
spell check, but are actually an error. Don't confuse words
like "there" and "their".
Once you have the basic framework finished, it is now time
to test it. Try to corral as many people as possible to
review it. Is it clear and an effective presentation? You
should probably avoid friends unless you are sure they will
give you an honest evaluation.
The first impression your web site makes is crucial to
success. If people have to "jump through hoops" to find out
about your offer, or if it doesn't portray a professional
image, the odds are they won't buy.
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the "Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at
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