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Planning your Website
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Contents
- Tips
- Common Mistakes
- Planning Basics
- What Makes a Successful Website
- How to Build a Relationship with your Customer
- Links
1. Tips
Always keep the search engines in mind when designing a new website or creating a new page for an existing website
Incorporate specific keywords in the title
Place the specific keyword phrase at the front of the title e.g. Blenders @ Sydney Commercial Kitchens Catering Equipment
A picture is not worth a thousand words!
Always include a site map on the website. This allows the search engines to index your entire site from a single page.
2. Common Mistakes
Avoid using frames - search engines still have trouble accessing information on framed pages. If they can't access it they
won't index it.
Avoid dynamic content - a page is considered dynamic if it contains a "?" or "&" character in the URL. Most search engines
ignore these pages.
Avoid graphical text.
Avoid using flash - leave this for your competitors and have the customers flock to your quick to open site.
3. Planning Basics
Use the following formula for putting your website structure together
- Write down the purpose of your website.
- What do you want to achieve?
- What is your customer base?
- Research other websites [and not just in your industry] to give you ideas for how you want your website to look.
- Research which keywords are being used by potential customers to search for your products and services on the search engines.
- Decide what content will go into your website pages.
- Decide which keyword phrases will go into your content.
- Decide which keyword phrase will be included in your page titles.
- Write a list of what pages you want on your website [this may also come from the research you have done on other websites].
- Decide how you want your pages to link together. One of the best ways to do this is start setting up your site map - a must
include page on your website. Try to think as logically as possible. See the
site map at Sydney Commercial Kitchens - http://www.sydneycommercialkitchens.com.au/sitemap.htm
4. What makes a Successful Website?
Successful websites meet clearly identified goals and provide relevant and compelling content that draws
your customers back time and time again. They are attractively designed and are easy to navigate around.
It is quick to open - remember not everyone has cable or ADSL internet connections
The content is relevant and interesting to potential visitors
The content is always current
Put your contact and address information on every page, don't make customers search for it!
Every page should contain a link to the main pages of the site.
5. How to Build a Relationship with your Customer
Building a long term relationship online has greater importance than in most businesses where you may have face to face contact.
First impressions count and you only have one chance to impress potential customers.
Make sure your content is always current.
Make sure your prices are always current.
You need to be able to develop a relationship with the customer and gain their trust.
If you receive an email request make sure you answer it promptly - there is nothing worse than hoping your email
has been received.
If you have a newsletter make sure the content is interesting to the customer and not just Sell, Sell, Sell!
Never contact customers unnecessarily.
6. Links to Other Websites
Recent statistics showed that visitors to websites come from 3 main areas:
Search Engines 7%
Links to other sites 46%
Bookmarks 47%
This shows the need to have an extensive and relevant link directory.
As the final test of your site's relevancy, search engines analyse how many other relevant sites link to your site. It doesn't stop there.
Search engines analyse the link name, link title, link URL and the text near your link.
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