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10 Tips for Better Web Site Usability - and Profits! By Marty Foley
Making a web site easy and convenient for visitors to use is a
commonly overlooked key to selling more from it. The following
tips can help you do just that...
1) A lesson for marketers is to make our web sites, products,
etc., compatible with the largest possible number of users,
including the most common browsers and computer systems.
This means avoiding or using extreme caution with newer
technology that people with slower connections and older
computer systems can't easily use. One exception may be if you
cater to an especially high-tech target market.
2) Unless you have a very good reason to deviate from default
hyperlink colors, it's best not to. Typically, blue links have
not been visited, and purple links have. Other non-link text
colored blue or purple may confuse visitors by making them
think they are links.
3) A top pet peeve among surfers is slow-loading web pages.
When placing images on your pages, use width and height
attributes in the HTML code to specify image sizes. Browsers
can then allocate proper space for images and the text can
start loading immediately, giving visitors something to view
while images load.
4) Make your web pages load faster by minimizing the number of
graphics you use, as well as by optimizing their file sizes. A
free tool for optimizing graphics files is available at:
www.gifoptimizer.com
5) Visitors typically scan web pages rather than read them word
for word. With this in mind, use descriptive headlines and
subheads, write concisely, and make important points stand out
by highlighting them or using different colored text.
6) Certain bright colors such as red and yellow cause more
strain on the human eye than others. Use such colors sparingly
on your site if you want to encourage visitors to stay longer.
Otherwise, eye strain may cause them to leave prematurely.
7) Since visitors typically scan web pages, hyperlinks within
the text of a web page should be relatively short (consisting of
few words), and very descriptive of where they lead to.
8) Two reasons to use the ALT attribute in the HTML code of
your web pages: A) It can be used to slightly improve search
engine ranking. B) It can tell the visually impaired (or those
who surf with graphics turned of in their browsers) what the
image is.
9) How many clicks does it take to get to your online order
form? Many have found that the fewer clicks required, the
better. In other words, the easier you make it to buy from
you, the more likely people will.
10) Beware of common problems with using frames on a web site:
A) A large percentage of surfers dislike them. B) They can be
confusing and awkward for users. C) It's tricky to get the HTML
just right. D) Search engines have problems indexing past the
home page.
Of course, there are many other techniques and strategies for
boosting web site profits, but this basic primer will help you
avoid some of the most common response killers.
More Helpful Resources...
Despite common web site failures, many are not just still
around but thriving! Marty Foley reveals a variety of proven
resources for your Internet success at: http://ProfitInfo.com
Add multiple income streams to your web site with the winning
Internet affiliate programs revealed at:
http://AffiliateProfitInfo.com/
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