How to build a website that works

Today, it seems like everyone and their mother (or even grandmother) has a website. That’s why it’s extremely important to have a quality website that helps you stand out from the crowd.

Here are ten tips to help you create and promote your website in a professional and effective way.

1.  Know your audience.  If you watch the latest kids cartoon and then watch reruns of shows from the 60s, you won’t only see different products being advertised, you’ll see the advertisements are in a completely different style. Knowing your audience, what the respond to, and what they value and hold dear is the first step to meeting their needs.

2.  Keep it simple.  Simple websites are not only easier to navigate, they also load faster so your customers don’t get frustrated waiting to find what they’re looking for.

3.  Ask for feedback.  Always have a way for your users to send you feedback or questions.  You could put feedback boxes or questions on different pages, or you can have one central contact us page.

4.  Don’t mix everything in together.  If you offer several different products or services, you may need to have several websites to promote them so visitors aren’t bombarded with things irrelevant to their needs.

5.  Be consistent.  Make each page the same format, font, color, etc to keep visitors from getting confused at where to find what they’re looking for.

6.  Be readable.  Not only do you need a font that’s readable and colors that don’t hurt the eyes, but it’s also extremely beneficial to have correct spelling and grammar.  Customers aren’t likely to stick around if they think you’re lazy or don’t know what you’re talking about.

7.  Add RSS feed.  Many people keep themselves updated by using RSS feeds instead of checking websites constantly.  By adding a RSS feed, you can not only catch these users, you can also tailor feeds specifically for their interests.

8.  Keep it current.  Besides the danger of having out-of-date information, pages that are updated more often get visited more often, and give you a better chance of keeping more customers.

9.  Make things easy to find.  Everyone wants things fast, and adding a search box or an easy site map will help them find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.

10.  Find your UPS (unique selling point).  Ultimately, if you do everything right, but your site is just like every other well-made site, you still may not be able to make money from it.  Your site needs to have something unique that reflects who you are and what you can provide to draw in the customers and keep them coming back.